


Put It Back Together

by procrastinator



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-31
Updated: 2014-06-30
Packaged: 2018-01-10 10:43:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 101,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1158720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/procrastinator/pseuds/procrastinator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So...this is a fluffy/angsty, smutty in the future, story about which I had a bizarro dream and decided to write a tamer, less wacko version of. Daddy Loki and Mommy Darcy. I haven't quite worked this out yet, so if you enjoy the premise let me know and I'll keep plugging away at it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Oh Baby

Loki smiled to himself, satisfied that he had finally finished his journey through the farthest realms. He took a deep breath, patting the treasures in his pockets, and set his sights on Midgard, specifically on the apartment of Darcy Lewis. It had been quite some time since he had seen her and he would admit, only under the pressure of her gaze, that he had missed her desperately. It wasn’t just that he had missed the comforts of her bed and the pleasure of her body, he had missed the irritatingly soothing lilt of her voice, the way her smile went all the way to her eyes, the way she confronted him and comforted him in the same moment. He was ready to admit to himself that of all the women he had ever known, she was his truest match. During his time on Midgard, he had spent the last six months of it as Darcy’s lover. It was a role he found most fulfilling. Now that he had the relics he had searched for so relentlessly, he could return to her and begin the process of making her his for as long as possible.

He smiled as the familiar warmth and smell of her home washed over him. He opened his eyes and found himself at the foot of her bed, the exact place he had envisioned as he projected himself across space and time. It was dark, the middle of the night, and she slept in a crumpled heap in her blankets. He could sense that somethings in the room had shifted in the time he’d been away and as he watched her sleep, he thought there might be something about her that had changed as well. He had been gone a year in her time. She was not wearing her usual t-shirt for sleeping; she was dressed in more average Midgardian night clothing. Despite the fact that she was asleep she looked tired, the lines on her face a bit more set, but not from age, just from exhaustion. He watched her take a deep breath and he could not tear his eyes from the teasing hint of the most fantastic pair of breasts he had ever had the pleasure of burying his face in. Somethings were different, he could tell, but some things were not.

He magicked away his armour, eager to climb into bed with her and resume their relations exactly where they had left off. On their last night together he had made love to her, paying detailed attention to every single part of her body, mapping it with his hands and mouth. Afterwards, when she was completely spent and wrecked from climax after climax, he kissed her until she fell asleep and then he left her alone, disappearing into his travels, his eye set on his goal.

He had, of course, not told her exactly when he would go or for how long. He had hinted in the weeks prior that he would need to travel. He did not want an emotionally exhausting farewell, so although he knew she would be angry, it had been for the best. He expected that her joy at his return would outpace her frustration at his departure. Now, he wanted to climb into bed, wrap his arms around her, and have her wake rested in his arms and ready for their reunion.

He pulled his tunic away, leaving himself only in his cotton sleeping pants (a Midgardian invention he actually appreciated), and ambled to the side of the bed to crawl into the space next to her. He paused to gaze at her beauty in the moonlight and just as he was imagining millennia of her full lips and deep eyes, his wandering mind was interrupted by a piercing wail from the other side of the room.

Darcy's eyes flew open at the familiar cry, but her breath clenched in her chest when the first thing she saw was Loki, shirtless, standing next to her bed with a confused and startled look on his face. She threw back the covers and lept out of bed, brushing past him without even a look and swooped to the far wall of her room. Loki watched as she bent over the horrible noise and his eyes widened as she turned around, her arms full of a swaddled bundle with tiny hands waving about.

“Don’t be scared sweetie,” she soothed, her voice turning sharp as her eyes flew to Loki. “Daddy’s home.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shock and awe!

Loki found himself, for the first time in a thousand years, utterly speechless. He watched as Darcy floated past him and laid the bundle down on a small mattress that now sat atop her dresser. It used to be covered with jewelry and hats and perfume and lacy underthings that he left there for her. Now it was covered with a thick pad and plastic boxes and tubes of creams with pictures of babies on them. She pulled away the blankets and from the pile emerged a tiny baby with thin dark curls, it’s face scrunched in anger as it flushed and tears dripped down its cheeks.

“Loki,” she called, her voice clearly preoccupied with the baby, “this is your daughter, Anna.”

“What?” he whispered, still confused as Darcy unfastened the bottom of the baby’s sleeping attire. “Why is she crying?” he murmured, walking over to stand at her head. His face scrunched in revulsion as Darcy ripped open the undergarment beneath her pajamas. “Oh,” he replied, pulling back, “she has soiled herself.”

“Yes,” Darcy replied, clearly impatient with his reaction. “She’s a baby. That’s what they do.” She finished cleaning and re-diapering the baby and as she fastened the little girl’s onesie, she couldn’t keep the thick, heated comment from boiling over. “I guess you haven’t been such an involved father in the past, huh?”

Her comment didn’t phase him. He was still distracted by the sudden appearance of the child. “Why is she still crying” he asked again, his voice betraying his confusion and bewilderment. Darcy swept the infant up in her arms and made her way to a chair against the far wall. She lifted a U shaped pillow from the floor and settled them both in the chair. She positioned the pillow around her waist and laid the baby upon it as she whispered soothing little words to her. The baby seemed to calm slightly and Loki wondered what this ritual might be. Then Darcy fingers flew to her night gown and swiftly unbuttoned the front, bringing forth one of her tremendous breasts. Loki felt his throat go dry; they were bigger, it hadn’t been his imagination. And clearly, they were bigger for a purpose. She turned the infant into her and looked up at him again.

“She’s crying because she’s hungry. That’s the other thing thing babies do.” She coaxed the infant’s head into her bosom and Loki watched, completely enthralled, as her little mouth felt around until it located Darcy’s nipple and then she latched and happily settled into her mother. Loki could see her tiny body relax and feel her sense her comfort as her mother stroked her head and rubbed her back. Her little hand came up to rest on the swell of Darcy’s breast and for the first time Loki felt a stab of something other than arousal when confronted with Darcy’s chest.

He watched them for a moment. Darcy’s entire focus had shifted to the baby; she couldn't of possibly cared less that he was there. He seized the moment to focus his attention. He walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down across from her, but close enough that he could see his daughter’s eyes open and focus up at her mother. He wanted to see more of her.

“Can I turn on the light?” he asked softly, sorry to interrupt them.

“No,” she said, shaking her head a bit, “it wakes her up too much. She’ll go back to sleep when she’s full.”

He stayed silent a little longer, watching as Darcy tickled the girl’s cheek and she smiled at her mother, her little mouth full of milk as some of it dribbled down her chin. He felt his heart beat quicken as the realization suddenly flooded through him. He had a child. With a woman that he loved. 

“So,” he began, wrestling Darcy’s attention from her baby, “I clearly left you in a state.”

“You could say that,” she nodded, looking towards him but not at him. “I didn’t know, of course, until a few weeks after you were gone. And it was a shock, but really, not that much of a surprise.”

Loki's eye brows shot up. “But we took precautions…”

“Some, yes,” she agreed. “But you’re an alien with god-like sperm that apparently is not at all intimidated by a diaphragm. And in the month before you left we were banging like bunnies. You wanted it all the time.”

He cleared his throat, the reality of Darcy’s unique perspective on the world coming back to him. “Yes,” he replied, “I remember quite fondly that we coupled frequently.”

“Yeah,” she snorted, finally looking him in the eye. “We frequently did it five or six times a day. You were insatiable and once you were gone, I knew why.”

Loki's eyes narrowed. He should have known that his motives would not go undiscovered. Darcy was extremely smart and perceptive; she always figured him out. The baby seemed to be finishing her meal and Darcy withdrew a cloth from somewhere and pulled the drowsy little girl away from her breast. She wiped her mouth and her chin and the baby yawned and whimpered, trying to turn back towards her mother. “No,” she soothed, “that’s enough for now honey.” 

Loki watched the ritual proceed, taking in every detail. Darcy threw the cloth over her shoulder and lifted the baby up. She rested her forearm under the baby’s bum and bounced her as she patted her back. Eventually the baby belched and Loki’s eyes flew open, surprised to hear such a rude sound come from such a delicate creature. Darcy must have noticed his confusion. “If she doesn’t burp she’ll get the hiccups and cry for an hour,” she explained, “or she might spit up everything she just ate and we’ll go through this again.” After patting out a second, smaller burp from the baby Darcy seemed satisfied and rose to her feet. She went back to the changing table and retrieved the blanket, spreading it out on her bed. She laid the now sleeping infant back down and Loki noted the procedure to properly swaddle her in her blanket. She went to put the baby back in her cradle, but at the last minute she turned back towards Loki.

She sat down next to him on the bed and pulled the little girl's arm out of her blanket. “Take her hand,” she said to him and Loki immediately followed her command, holding the little girl’s fist in his fingers. She was extremely tiny and her found her fragility terrifying. But her skin was warm and pink and he felt a stab of happiness that she was so beautiful and well loved. “Now,” Darcy continued, “drop the Aesir’s act.”

“What?” Loki asked, turning towards her with a startled look.

“Go frosty,” Darcy commanded. “I want to see.” Loki swallowed and let his magic slip away. Darcy had seen it many times before, he wasn’t at all concerned about that, but he was extremely reticent to reveal this to his daughter. What if she awoke and was traumatized by the sight of him.

He gasped, however, when very slowly, beginning at her hand, her skin transformed along with his. The blue of her skin vanished under her sleeve but re-emerged up her neck, the tell-tale lines running along her forehead in the same pattern that graced his own. Darcy sighed and pulled the baby’s hand from Loki’s. The girl’s skin pinkened immediately returning to the shade that matched her mother. “Well,” Darcy murmured, getting up to put the baby back to bed, “as if there was any doubt, she’s definitely yours.”

She turned to face Loki again, her back guarding her baby’s cradle. “You can sleep on the couch.”


	3. Chapter 3

When Loki awoke the next morning, he could hear the sounds of Darcy puttering in the kitchen. The smell of coffee wafted through the apartment and he was grateful for the Midgardian caffeine addiction. He had not been able to sleep until only a few hours before. He had sat up until early in the morning, hashing over what would be his new life. He felt an unusual and unfamiliar emotion: the enormous weight of guilt for Darcy having carried, birthed, and raised the baby this far alone, with no healers or servants or magic to assist her. And the feeling only magnified when he realized his daughter did not even know he existed. That she had not had his love or protection at the beginning of her life, that he had not blessed her with his devotion. A child was entitled to these things; he had long known that he had been entitled to these things and instead he’d been left out to die like a household pest. He had built his rage through that denial of what, really, had been his birthright. Just to be loved. He found his heart very heavy when he thought back at the image of his baby feeding at her mother’s breast and at the look on Darcy’s face in that moment. He never had the opportunity for that kind of love and devotion from a parent, had never had the opportunity to take nourishment from his mother, although he had been nourished by Frigga in many other ways.

He had also falsely and arrogantly believed that he had grown apart from his selfish ways, but the very situation they were in proved he had not. He had not given real consideration to what would happen to Darcy in his absence, only that he did not want to suffer the pain of saying goodbye to her. He realized now that he must very quickly adapt to the new reality and navigate the hostility with Darcy carefully if he were to have any chance of a life with her and their daughter. He knew that he loved Darcy and, after getting over the initial shock, he wholeheartedly loved the _idea_ of Anna, even if she was not quite real to him yet. He would go willing to Helheim to protect either of them. 

At dawn he heard her cry again and then Darcy’s soothing voice as they proceeded into what he guessed was another feeding. He desperately wanted to join them, but he was wary of imposing after his abrupt arrival. So instead he had arisen and cast every spell of protection he could think of over Darcy’s apartment, his daughter, and his mate. That was how he thought of Darcy, even if she barred him from her bed. He was hers and she was his and now they had a child. They would be a family and she would let him love her and love him in return. Loki would do anything to secure that future.

He went quietly to the edge of the kitchen, but Darcy seemed to sense his presence. She offered him a cup of coffee without meeting his eyes. He noticed that she was wearing some kind of sling and that his little Anna was tucked inside, once again asleep. He was disappointed that she was not awake; he was eager to make her acquaintance.

“She eats around 9pm, goes down for the night, eats again at 1am, and again around 5am,” Darcy explained, opening the fridge and pulling out the milk. “And then she sleeps again until around 8am, but she was a bit fussy this morning. I think she can tell the energy in her home is different.” She shot him a harsh look as she put the milk in front of him. “But she has a schedule,” she continued, “and we have to stick to it or no one will sleep. She’s not sleeping through the night yet, but I think she will soon.”

Loki nodded and sipped his coffee, taking in her instruction obediently. Darcy had come so far without any assistance from him, and so he would not upset her ways. He felt like every word he offered had to be measured. He could not provoke her accidently; she was already in a constant state of provocation. He watched as she sat at the table, easing the bundle in her lap and pulling the sling back far enough to reveal a hint of short dark curls.

“She was blue when she came out,” Darcy volunteered, not even looking up at him. “It hurt like a mother fucker, like icles stabbing and slicing me open from the inside. But once she was out it was fine. It case you were worried about me, a human, carrying your frost giant baby.” Her anger was thinly veiled, if that.

Loki steadied himself, prepared to take any amount of abuse she threw at him. He didn’t know what he had been thinking at the time, not telling her that he was leaving, where he was going, and never coming to check on her, even in secret. He wanted a grand and dramatic re-entry with his happy news on their impending eternity together. He certainly got something grand and dramatic, but not quite happy.

“And how did the Midgardian healer react?” he asked quietly.

Darcy glared at him. “I had her at Stark Tower and Bruce delivered her. He is a doctor after all. Tony thought it was best. I didn’t want the people at SHIELD to know she was yours, so he set up a delivery room and everything, very high tech. And Jane and Pepper helped me through it.”

Loki nodded. He understood why Stark would not have allowed her to go to a regular hospital and why they would stay away from SHIELD. It was a wise choice. Already he could not bare the thought of his tiny baby being prodded for tests to determine her abilities or explore her alien genetics. Although he had to admit that it stung a bit to realize that nowhere in the nine realms could Darcy have given birth and not had people recoil at their child. She would always have come out blue and on Midgard or in Asgard, not to mention any other place, everyone would have screwed up their face and thought ‘uh, Jotun.’

“Bruce does her check ups and has run a few tests. He went back and forth for a while about whether he should vaccinate her against human diseases, but we decided to wait. He said she could wait. I think he was waiting to see if you would come back, but he didn’t want to say that to me.”

Loki nodded solemnly, not sure how to address his mistakes. He decided to focus on the baby. “She will not need them,” he said quietly.

She nodded at his assessment. “Otherwise, she’s healthy,” she continued. “She eats well, she’s growing. She’s starting to play and she blows a pretty mean raspberry.” Darcy voiced drifted away and she stared down at the infant. “She’s the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen.”

“That she is,” Loki replied, his voice as sincere as Darcy had ever heard it. “But her mother is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

“You’re still sleeping on the couch.”

“Agreed,” he nodded, shifting in his chair, “but...I assume that I am permitted to stay in your home and bond myself with our child.”

“Yes,” Darcy sighed, pushing her hair out of her face. “I wouldn’t do that to either of you.” She eyed him across the table. “And we can start this whole domestication process with you making breakfast. I missed your magic eggs. I craved them the whole time I was pregnant. That was just one more shitty thing about you being gone.”

“Absolutely.” Loki lept to the stove and began his work. He had never told her that the eggs were not ‘magic.’ He just used a combination of dried herbs and a special cheese that he loved from the Netherlands, which he just conjured whenever Darcy wanted her special cheese omelet. Admittedly, that part was magic.

Loki cooked eggs and conjured fruit and then they ate in relative silence. He asked a few questions about Anna. What were her capabilities? Had she displayed any strange behaviour for a human infant? She had not, although Bruce said she was unusually alert and responsive for a baby her age, as if she understood what was going on around her. Just as Darcy took the last bite of her eggs, the bundle in her lap twitched and squeaked. Darcy looked down and smiled.

“There’s my girl,” she said happily and Loki’s heart lifted as he heard the baby’s voice. She cooed and gurgled at her mother and Darcy hoisted her out of her nest. She lifted her again onto her shoulder and Loki strained to see her face. Darcy pulled away the sling and then she rose from her chair and motioned for Loki to open his arms. She cradled the baby against his chest and Loki gasped when Anna’s huge blue eyes locked on his face and she opened her mouth silently, a bit of drool escaping down her chin. Darcy withdrew and watched the two of them stare at each other. “Hold her hand” she whispered and Loki immediately picked up her tiny fist. Anna’s fingers locked around one of his and she clutched it tightly, waving it back and forth as if to show him how strong she was. He laughed as her brow furrowed and she took in his face.

Darcy stood back, watching them watch each other. It hurt in so many different ways to finally see the two of them together. She blamed it all the hormones she still had coursing through her and on the selfish, adolescent god she'd tied herself to. She shivered in anger and lust just to think of him as her lover. She had wanted him so badly so many times over the last year; she had yelled and screamed and begged the cosmos, trying to call him back. And now he was here and he didn’t appear to be planning to leave again.

“I’m still really mad at you and this doesn’t change anything between us,” she whispered, his eyes closing briefly in response, “but the way she is looking at you is pretty amazing.”

Loki agreed. The way Anna was looking at him was pretty amazing. She had her mother’s eyes, full and bright, and her lips, plump and pouty, but she also had traces of her father: cheekbones, nose, chin. She scanned his face like he was a curious thing she’d never seen before, which he was, and it almost seemed like she was sizing him up. She must have decided that he was ok because she flexed her little body, pulling her chin into her chest, and then she gurgled a drooly smile and squawked at him. Loki found her entrancing. Looking at her, imagining his life with her at the center of it, made it a bit difficult to take a deep breath.

Anna stayed pretty content in Loki’s arms while Darcy did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. They were so quiet the whole time that eventually Darcy turned and leaned her back against the counter.

“You know, you can talk to her.”

Loki sat up a little straighter, pulling himself out of his intent focus on his daughter. He was memorizing her face, her eyes, her expressions. He studied her hands and her feet. He wanted to know everything about her. Darcy noticed he didn’t look entirely comfortable holding her. Something about the angle was weird or she was just so small compared to him. “But what would I say?” he asked and Darcy realized she had never heard a timid word come out of his mouth until that moment. He was out of his depth and they both knew it.

“Whatever you want,” she shrugged, trying to diffuse his apprehension. “She doesn’t really understand. But she needs to hear your voice and the only way she’ll develop language is if we interact with her.”

“Should I teach her my language?”

“If you want,” Darcy smiled. It was kind of a step for him to say ‘my’ anything in relation to Asgard. “Or you could tell her stories, whatever. I try not to baby talk to her because I always found it annoying, but whatever you say to her is between you and her.”

As if noticing that the focus of the room wasn’t on her, Anna started to pout and then whine and before Loki knew it she was full on crying. His face went even paler than normal and Darcy had to laugh at the look of sheer panic that crossed his face.

“You have to get used to her crying, she does it all the time. I mean she’s a pretty good baby, but that’s her only way of getting our attention.”

“But what does she need?” Loki asked desperately, looking more unsure as she started to thrash a bit in his arms.

“Look,” Darcy said, realizing that she would have to teach him what she had learned on her own, “there are only a finite number of things that babies can cry about.”

“Ok…” Loki continued, looking down at the squalling infant. Darcy was not coming to take her and it made him uncomfortable. Surely she knew better what to do.

“Can you think of what some may be?” Darcy teased. “You are super-human, after all, a god by some people’s standards.” This felt normal, she thought to herself, teasing him like this.

Loki gave her a withering look and immediately regretted it, but her face stayed amused. “Well,” he continued, raising his eyebrows at her, “last night she was soiled and then apparently famished. But you said she had eaten not three hours ago. Could she have defecated again? Perhaps she is alerting us.”

Darcy burst out laughing. She had never heard someone use the term ‘defecation’ to refer to baby poop. She suddenly realized there was no risk of Loki baby talking to Anna.

“Close” she giggled, finally reaching out to take the baby from his arms and hoisting her on her shoulder. “She could be wet, but she tends not to get too worked up about that until its enough to bother her. I think, given the time and the fact that she’s been laying flat for a few hours that she needs to…” Darcy analysis was interrupted by a very large, very wet sounding fart emerging from the small backside of their beautiful baby. Loki's mouth dropped open and he couldn’t hide his shock. Darcy apparently thought it was hilarious as she continued to bounce the baby against her chest and the baby continued to fart.

“Oh my god Loki” she howled, “the look on your face!”

“I am sorry” he said, suddenly embarrassed by his prudish behaviour. He didn’t want her to think he couldn’t be a good parent and apparently celebrating all body functions was evidence of strong parenting on Midgard. This was not something that royals dealt with in Asgard; servants and healers provided this kind of care to infants. “I know she is a baby, I’m just not used to her...functions yet.”

“Oh just wait,” Darcy laughed as she made her way to the diaper station in her room, the baby’s cries having resolved with the release of pressure inside her. “I wager within the week one of those functions will explode all over you.”

Loki got up to follow her and hovered at the edge of the changing table, watching Darcy’s procedures closely. Apparently Anna needed to do more that fart; she was a very productive little girl. By the end of the day, he resolved, he would be able to tend to his own daughter’s necessities. “I’m sorry,” Darcy continued, shaking her head, “that was funny. Sometimes she gets extra gassy in the morning if she’s eaten twice and hasn’t pooped yet.”

“But she...pooped...in the middle of the night,” he protested, stumbling over the Midgard word and trying to understand the mechanics that Darcy seemed to be able to predict.

“Yes,” Darcy nodded, “but that was a couple of meals before. She tends to poop every two to three feedings. This is what we do all day...eat and poop, eat and poop.”

“Oh,” he responded, realizing that for tiny mortals their regeneration capacities must rely on a large and frequent number of calories, which would naturally produce excessive amounts of waste. He watched as Darcy held her hand on the baby’s naked tummy and dug through the top drawer for clean clothes, muttering something about getting her dressed. Anna seemed to be entirely past her discomfort. She kicked her legs and arms in jerking thrusts, opening her mouth and emitting little noises of excitement. “So what is next in the schedule?” he continued. “More eating?”

“Nope,” she said, her voice lighter than it had been that morning, “next is tummy time.”

“And what is tummy time?” Darcy looked up half expecting him to have a notepad out. He sounded like a researcher in the field. She pulled out a yellow onesie with giraffes on it and she tried not to laugh as Loki glared at Anna's drawer full of bright and pastel colored clothes. She knew he would not approve of her wardrobe, but he did say anything. So, she continued on with the schedule.

“We lay on our tummies on the living room floor. It helps build up her abdominal muscles and her neck muscles.”

Lokis nodded his head sharply. “Agreed. A worthy activity. She should advance her physical capacities. She is quite frail.”

Darcy shook her head, about to protest for the 100th time that she was a baby, but Loki was already out the door. As she entered the living room, she saw that the couch was moved back against the far wall and the throw blanket had been spread over the floor. Loki, all six plus feet of him, was stretched out on his stomach, arms straight at his sides, his head laying flat on the floor. “I am ready,” he said. “Let us proceed with tummy time.”

Darcy's smile grew wide. Loki had only been back for about eight hours and she already felt better having him in the house. Even if she didn’t know how she felt about him, she felt safer and more relaxed knowing she wasn’t entirely alone anymore. She just wished she could trust him to stick around. She laid Anna down on her tummy, turning her head to face Loki and she sat back on the couch to watch what might happen. This was better than watching TV, which she hadn’t even done since Anna had been born.

Loki stared at his baby silently for a few moments. “Child,” he said awkwardly, addressing her directly for the first time, “please demonstrate your training regiment. My brother and I, when we used to spar to develop our own physical capabilities, had a series of exercises we did to prepare. We should perhaps follow a similar model in order to maximize our tummy time.”

Darcy giggled so hard she snorted and Loki shot her an unsure look. He couldn’t help but feel like she found his every interaction with the baby to be ridiculous. “What?” he asked, calmly. “Is this not the right approach?”

“She doesn’t have a regiment…” Darcy started, but Loki’s attention immediately shifted back to Anna.

“Ah!” he exclaimed, “very good. We begin by lifting our heads, I see.” He watched Anna flex her muscles and flail her limbs out on either side, before successfully lifting her head off the ground and peering forward. Darcy watched, partly astounded, as Loki encouraged every move Anna made, congratulating her for turning her head and then wedging her arms under her chest and propping herself up. They did these same moves for half an hour before Loki seemed satisfied. “Excellent!” he exclaimed, turning to Darcy with a huge smile. “She is an advanced child I think. She has already proceeded off her tummy to some degree. What is the next stage in her development?”

“Um, rolling over,” Darcy replied, suddenly serious to see how engaged he was. It made her irrationally angry that he could disappear with no word for a year and then show up and dive right in. It was of course what she wanted, but it infuriated her.

Loki turned his head in the opposite direction, clearly gauging the amount of room available and then he rolled over in a complete 360 away from Anna. “See Anna,” he said, “that is rolling over. Now you try.” He watched her for a minute before turning back to Darcy. “She is not trying.”

“She can’t do it yet,” Darcy replied curtly. “And she certainly can’t roll all the way over. She’s just supposed to get onto her back. And she doesn’t even understand what you are saying.”

“Oh, of course,” he replied, “one step at a time.” He demonstrated half a roll and looked at Anna expectantly. Anna lowered her head to the floor and gurgled, drooling on the blanket. “She is giving up,” he muttered.

“No,” Darcy said, swooping down to pick up the baby, “she’s tired. Half an hour is a lot for an infant. She’s barely three months old.”

“Oh,” Loki exclaimed, scrambling to his feet, “my expectations are not appropriate. I will correct them. How do you suggest I proceed?”

“The same way I did,” Darcy replied, the anger returning to her voice, “all alone with a book.” She motioned to a particular shelf on the bookcase, one he remembered used to house DVDs, and Loki noticed that Darcy had quite a collection of texts on pregnancy and the rearing of children.

She turned her back on him and started back to the bedroom. “I’m going to feed her and put her down for a nap. She usually sleeps a couple hours in the morning, until lunch at least.”

“And may we talk while she sleeps?” Loki asked hopefully.  
  
“No,” Darcy said, not even turning back to him, “I take a nap too. I sleep when she sleeps because when she won’t sleep, I can’t.”

Loki simply nodded as the door shut a bit forcefully behind Darcy, signally an end to the relative peace of the morning. He sat back down on the couch and dropped his head backwards to stare at the ceiling. He tried to imagine for a moment all he had missed and what could constitute the many layers of Darcy's anger towards him. He tried to plan his making of ammends, but he found himself just wishing she would look at him the way she used to and perhaps give him even the tiniest bit of hope.


	4. Chapter 4

When Darcy awoke from her nap, the apartment was silent. Anna was still sleeping, and she had no idea what Loki was doing, or if he was even still there, but he had left her alone as she’d asked. Despite her anger, she’d been able to rest. That was the one gift of the accumulated exhaustion that pregnancy and a newborn had produced. She could sleep almost anytime now.

She glanced at the clock and realized that Anna would probably sleep for another twenty minutes. She had a short time to run through the shower. She didn’t bother to look out into the apartment as she headed into the bathroom, she just locked the door and started the water, positioning the baby monitor on the far side of the sink. This was her normal routine. Just because he was there it didn’t mean that anything changed. It didn’t mean she could trust him.

She was able to wash her hair and towel off before she heard Anna starting to whimper in her cradle. She headed out into the hall and was caught by Loki’s shadow. He stood a bit away from the bedroom, clearly trying to decide if he should enter her room or not. When he saw Darcy, wet hair and clad only in a towel, his heart thudded and briefly forgot about his crying daughter. But her wail brought him back almost instantaneously. Darcy was already at the door. “If she’s crying, you can get her,” she said, and then she disappeared behind the door and Loki heard the lock slide into place. He sighed in defeat; he was not welcome yet.

Fifteen minutes later, Darcy and Anna emerged refreshed. Darcy felt better after her shower and Anna woke up happy from her nap. She stopped short when she saw Loki on the couch next to a large stack of her pregnancy and baby books.

“Which one are you starting with?” she asked, taking a spot at the other end of the couch.

“I have read these,” he sighed, placing his hand on a stack of about eight books. Darcy’s eyes widened and then she remembered who he was.

“And…” she continued, “any thoughts.” She watched him gaze down at the floor and his throat clenched as he swallowed. 

“Obviously,” he started, “when I left I did not know that you were with child. Had I known, I would not have gone. Regardless, I deeply regret the conditions under which I left. I should have told you. I should have left some means for you to contact me.”

“I would have appreciated that,” Darcy spat back.

“I don’t believe that now is the time to elaborate on why I went or where I went, suffice it to say I had the need to acquire certain magical items that are important to future…”

“Let’s not talk about the future yet,” Darcy said quietly.

“Agreed,” he said, nodding his head, “it would seem premature. But Darcy, I have educated myself on what you endured in my absence. I have to admit I find the process of human reproduction to be horrifying.” Darcy smiled at that and he realised his mistake. “Not the process of creating her,” he stumbled, looking at the floor, “that was quite magnificent, every time, but what you have gone through to nourish and deliver her is astoundingly brutal. And I imagine her parentage only made it worse.” Darcy couldn’t help it; she blushed when he said ‘every time.’

Darcy shifted on the couch and Anna waved her arms in front of her face, a little frown dotting her brow. Darcy was convinced that the baby was very in touch with her mother’s emotions, kind of like a dog. They had spent every conscious minute in each other’s company from the moment she was conceived. She hadn’t taken an hour to herself since she was born. She was her other person in the world now. She had one day hoped that would be Loki, but she couldn’t count on him anymore.

Loki seemed to find his courage and he looked her straight in the eye. “So, I find myself in the unusual position of believing, most sincerely, that I owe you a very heartfelt and profound apology. I have done wrong by you Darcy Lewis and by our daughter, and I intend to fix it.”

“How?” Darcy asked immediately. She wasn’t being sarcastic, she really wanted to know. She had dreamed many times that he would come back and they could be a happy family, but now that he was there, she had no idea how to make that into a reality. There was so much distance to travel.

“I do not know,” he said quietly, narrowing his gaze back at a spot on the floor. “I have only just figured out how to apologize.” Darcy smirked because it was true. He had probably never done it in his life. “But, I will commit myself to it. If I cannot win you back and fix our family than the steps I have taken that have brought us here in the first place will have been for nothing.” That intrigued Darcy and she watched intently as he stood. “Please remember, my darling, that I have done this before. I will make amends.”

“I remember,” she replied, staring off into space. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me…”

“Yes, but overtime I hope to convince you that I have not gone insane or launched a plot to take over the world. I have merely, in my own stupidity and cluelessness, made a selfish and foolish mistake. I can see that very clearly and say it without reservation. But it is one, I assure you, I can learn from. I have never loved anyone before Darcy, please forgive me that I do not yet know how to do it properly.”

Darcy felt her heart stop and Anna twitched her head, as if she understood the gravity of what was happening. Did he just say it? She had dreamed of him saying it...18 months times 30 nights per month (average)...approximately 540 times. Probably four times that because she dreamed of it when she was awake as well. Multiple times. And yet, she felt her courage remain. That didn’t count. That wasn’t an ‘I love you Darcy.’ That was an indirect, back door I love you. She wouldn’t take it. He had to go the whole way or nothing.

“Ok,” she sighed, not even acknowledging what he’d said, “I think that we’ve done enough of this for now.”

“Agreed, we should end for now,” he continued, “ but I will make grilled cheese sandwiches because they are your favorite and the second Midgardian meal time has arrived.” He set off into the kitchen, slightly relieved that she hadn’t made him say it again. He was ready, but he felt she wasn’t ready to hear it and he didn’t think he could stand the humiliation if he said it and she sent him away. He could not bare the possibility of rejection. So he would avoid it until he was sure. 

Instead, he called to her from the kitchen that he would also make tomato soup because it was a bit cold outside and when it was cold Midgardians liked to eat tomato soup with their grilled cheese sandwiches. Darcy shook her head at his random acts of consideration and the bits of her life that had stuck in his brain. Too bad that, for all his brilliance, he couldn’t see a bad idea coming a mile away.

After lunch it was time for another diaper change and Loki insisted that he try it. He had easily memorized the procedure, but nothing prepared him for the experience of opening a full diaper. He didn’t expect the wave of odor or, most surprising, the heat. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Darcy smirk as he tried to hide his disgust or his desire to let go of his tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. 

“It’s ok,” she said, her voice more generous that he’d heard yet, “it takes a while to get over it.”

“Over it?” he asked, trying to keep his sleeves away from the open diaper as he reached for Anna’s wipes. He grabbed her feet and realized that his sleeves were too big for this kind of activity. He would need to start wearing Midgardian t-shirts or else he might dredge his clothes through feces.

“Yeah, you get desensitized to it. Poop, pee, puke. The three p’s of babies. She hasn’t really been sick yet, so I’ve been spared her snot, but I’m sure it is just a matter of time.”

“She will not get sick,” Loki said distractedly, bored at having to remind D that Anna was his child. “But, I see that she does do the other three. She will stop her minute vomits...

"Spit up," Darcy corrected. Minute vomit sounded terrible.

"She will stop her spit up soon when her stomach is stronger.”

“It isn’t even that gross yet,” Darcy shrugged. “I mean she just eats breast milk so there is really only one version of everything that comes out of her. When she starts to eat solids, that’s when we’ll see some variety in there.” To Loki's revulsion, Darcy waved her hand towards the open mess in the diaper as if she were referring to a drawer in a desk. 

Loki shot her a horrified look. Some how, in the last twenty four hours, he had gone from being a realm-trotting god to an ass-wiping baby daddy. And Darcy was talking to him about their daughter’s poop as if they were discussing something as ordinary as the weather.

“You speak about this like it is mundane, wiping feces off the bottom of another person.”

She gave him another one of her ‘poor Loki’ looks. “Honey,” she said, not even catching her slip up, “it is mundane. How many times have we done this today? Now hurry up before she pees on you.”

Darcy turned away from changing table and Loki quickly finished wiping Anna’s butt and wrapping her in a new diaper. Disposing of the soiled items was a mystery though, so when Darcy had her back turned, pulling something out of the closet, he simply magicked them away. He looked at Anna and she blew a raspberry at him as if to say, ‘I saw you do that.’

“Right then,” he said, picking the baby up and trying to avoid her flailing hand landing on the side of his face, “what is next in our schedule? We have all eaten, we have played a bit, we have napped. And we have pooped.” He shifted his eyes and looked at Anna. “Well,” he corrected himself, “actually Anna, you have pooped. Your mother prefers to do that in the morning or before bed and I am a god and don’t concern myself with such things.”

“Loki!” Darcy screeched, “I can’t believe you just said that!”

“I’m sorry, was that untoward?” he said, confused as to why she was getting excited. “There is no one here who doesn’t already know that little fact.” Her face flushed red for a minute, but they she smiled and shook her head.

“You’re impossible,” she muttered, laying out an apparatus that had various buckles and straps and a pocket of some kind.

“What is that?” he asked, looking curiously at the item on the bed.

“A baby carrier.”

“But I am carrying the baby.”

“Yes, but we’re going out and it is just easier to use this.”

“How does it work?”

“You wear it over your torso and put her in the pocket and then your arms are free.”

“Ah, like the sling you wore this morning.”

“Yes, but...I can’t really walk a long distance with that. This is better for a trip out of the house. That one is for cuddling.” Darcy saw his eyebrow shoot up. “Don’t worry,” she continued, “I know you don’t like cuddling.”

“Actually,” he replied, holding Anna close against his chest, “I enjoy cuddling very much.” He kissed Anna’s forehead and nuzzled her face a bit and Darcy felt her heart do that drop-kick thing again. He had always resisted cuddling with her, but now he seemed to take to it quite easily.

“Fine, whatever,” she said, turning back to her preparations. She grabbed her backpack from behind the door and made sure she had diapers and changing pads and wipes and extra clothes. She had a bottle of water and a granola bar for herself and a rattle just in case Anna wanted to play. As she sorted through her stuff she tried not to watch Loki sit down in her nursing chair and continue to ‘cuddle’ with Anna. It was freaking adorable.

“I think,” he suddenly said from across the room, “that you are remembering that I was somewhat hesitant to ‘snuggle’ with you after our love making sessions. I believe that was the term you used and that it is roughly equivalent to ‘cuddle.’ It was not that I didn’t enjoy it; it was that I enjoyed it too much.”

God damn it, Darcy thought, she was not at all prepared for these truth bombs. “Loki,” she sighed, “can we just...let’s just talk about the baby.” She decided to ignore that he called it ‘love making’ and not ‘coupling’ or ‘rutting’ or just ‘sex.’ She knew his tricks; he was trying to get to her.

“Fine,” he said, not even looking up at her to acknowledge what he’d just done. Instead he crossed his eyes and made silly faces at Anna. When he sensed Darcy was ready, he put Anna on the bed and examined the contraption.

“I would like to carry her in this,” he said. “I will accompany you on the outing.”

“Um, I don’t know about that,” Darcy said shaking her head. “You don’t have the right clothes for it.”

“What do I need?” he asked simply.

“Well, you’ll never get it over that armour…” before she even finished her thought he was suddenly standing in front of her in black jeans and a green sweater. “Ok,” she said, “I forgot about that.”

“This is sufficient?” he asked. “Good, let’s proceed.”

“Fine,” Darcy sighed, not feeling up to an argument. She wanted Loki and Anna to be close so why not let him do it. She pulled Anna’s fleece onesie out of the drawer and as she slipped it on the baby she instructed Loki how to put the baby carrier on. It took a few tries and a few laughs from her, but he eventually figured it out. Not, however, without a proper amount of cursing about the profound ineptitude of the Midgardian race. “That sounds more like you,” Darcy teased as she tightened the straps. “Hold the pocket open.”

Loki waited patiently as Darcy placed Anna into the carrier. She faced towards him and he felt himself relax against her as she immediately snuggled into her little sling and dropped her head back to gaze up at him.

“I think she really likes your hair,” Darcy said. “She probably wants to pull it.” Loki immediately turned his head so that a lock of black hair fell towards Anna and she grabbed and yanked before he even realized that she could.

“Ah!” he cried, pulling his hair out of her grasp. “Why did I do that?” he muttered to himself.

“Because she’s yours,” Darcy said, tugging a hat onto Anna's head. “You can’t deny her anything. She’s already got you in her hooks.”

“That she does,” he whispered quietly, watching his baby squirm into her sling and get comfortable. “That she does.”

He followed Darcy around the apartment as she continued getting ready, grabbing some grocery bags and some money, finding her phone and her keys. “Ok,” she said, when she was ready, “I think you need a coat.”

“I will be fine,” he said condescendingly, “I am Jotun.”

“Yeah, it’s for her,” Darcy sneered. “She’s half Jotun too, but I still don’t want her to get cold. Magic up a coat.”

Instantly a black fleece jacket appeared over his green sweater and Darcy marched right up to his chest. She tightened the jacket around his waist and then pulled the zipper up so that Anna was zipped up inside with him. “Good,” she said, patting his chest, “we’re ready to go.”

Darcy bristled at the cold wind as they made their way down the street. It was spring, technically, but early spring and it was still pretty cool outside. Add the wind racing up the length of Manhattan and it was barely spring at all. She couldn’t help watching Loki as they strolled along. He kept tucking his head down to examine the baby and wrapping his hands around her from the outside, checking to see that she was secure. Darcy was hesitant to admit it, but she somehow knew that he would be a pretty decent Dad. As much as he had railed against his own father, she knew it mattered to him. And she also knew that if he’d known she was pregnant, he probably wouldn’t have gone. But that seemed like the easy way out and she wasn’t about to give that to him. At least not yet.

As they rounded the corner towards the grocery store, Anna started to whimper a bit in the carrier and Darcy rolled her eyes. “Uh, I was afraid of this.” 

“What?” Loki asked, immediately alarmed at Anna’s cries and Darcy's reaction.

“She’s hungry. I thought she might be able to hold on till we got home, but no. Shit, this is inconvenient. There isn’t really anywhere around here to feed her.”

“What do you require?”

“Um…” Darcy started, scanning the various shops on the street. “Privacy, mostly, and warmth. And somewhere to sit, preferably not on a toilet. I don’t like to feed her in a bathroom, that’s gross.”

“What about this bench?” Loki said, sitting on a bench in a parkette bordering the street.

“Um, it is neither private nor warm, but one out of three ain’t bad for an alien god.” Darcy rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone. Maybe there was a Starbucks nearby.

“Please sit,” Loki said, his jaw tightening a bit. He was already unzipping his jacket and trying to extricate the baby from the carrier, but she was quickly descending into a hunger tantrum. Darcy sighed and plopped down beside him and immediately her ass felt warm. The bench was warm. And the air around her turned warm as well, the wind seeming to stop six or so feet before them. Loki handed her the baby and then waved his wrist and Darcy suddenly realized that no one could see them. There on the street in the middle of New York he made her a warm, private, non-toilet place to feed her baby.

“Holy shit,” she muttered, pulling the screeching infant into her nursing position, “why do I keep forgetting you can do this?”

“I think you are hesitant to admit my value,” he answered truthfully. “But I understand, it is because you are angry with me.”

“Um, yeah,” she drawled, pulling open her shirt. “Can you hand me your jacket please?”

“Are you still cold? I can increase the temperature…”

“No, I need it to cover up. I don't think I brought my nursing cloth. I think it is in the laundry.”

“Darcy, no one can see you.”

She stared him down. “You can see me.”

Loki opened his mouth and closed it. He didn’t know how to respond so he handed her his jacket. As she settled down and he heard Anna stop crying as she found her snack, he slouched into the bench, dissatisfied with being excluded from this activity. “I have seen your breasts before,” he said quietly.

“Yeah, I know,” she said. “But this is different.”

“I don’t see how.”

“Exactly, you don’t see. Let’s not push it ok?”

That sat in silence as Anna ate and Loki was happy to be of use when Darcy asked him to get a ‘burp cloth’ out of the backpack. He didn’t know what that was so rather than dig around for it, he summoned one and Darcy glared at him.

“You can’t magic your way through this all the time you know.” Loki shrugged. He had yet to find a situation he couldn’t magic his way through as Darcy said. “Speaking of magic,” she continued, “I don’t want you to use it on her. Or on me.”

“What constitutes ‘using it on her’?” he asked, immediately irritated that she was concocting this rule. It would be very difficult not to argue with her about it. 

“No making her stop crying or putting her to sleep or feeding her. You can make her stuff, but I don’t want you to use it on her body.”

“Ok,” he nodded. “You wish me to parent naturally. Fine, I am a god, I can do it.”

“Sure,” she smirked, handing Anna back to him to put back in the carrier. Loki tried not to watch as she adjusted her bra and fixed her shirt, but he caught a glimpse of creamy flesh and he felt a shiver run down his back. He didn’t feel that way when Anna was eating, but the second she was gone, Darcy’s breasts were back on his menu.

“And what constitutes magic on you?” he asked casually, taking the moment to admire her beauty. He has missed her smooth skin and clear eyes and full lips.

“No making me stop being angry. That’s number one. You can’t just poof me into forgetting.” He nodded in consent, that would be a condition...although it would be an easy rule to break and she would never know. “And no reading my mind.”

“You wish me to court you as if I was not a master of magic,” he stated plainly, eager for the challenge ahead. “Well enough. I will not require magic to orchestrate our reconciliation.”

“Excuse me?” Darcy said, her mouth dropping open. “Our what?”

“Have I not been clear, my love?” he replied, his eyes laughing at her expression and surprise. “I mean for us to be reunited. I understand that it will take time, but I will be victorious in the end.”

“That’s pretty cocky of you,” she muttered in reply.

“Darcy, you know that I have every reason to be cocky,” he grinned, teasing her slightly. They used to have the best sexy banter; he missed it. She scoffed in reply and so he pressed on. “If I remember correctly, you once said I was ‘extremely well hung,’ which I took to mean more than sufficient in the area of co...”

“Jesus christ Loki!” Darcy exclaimed, “thank god no one can hear us.”

“They can hear us. I’ve already dropped the veil.” Just then the old lady across the sidewalk stood up from her bench and glared at them.

“For fuck’s sake Loki,” she scowled in return, “let’s go get groceries.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Why are we shopping for provisions Darcy?” he said tiredly, stopping and turning towards her as she examined different bottles of juice on a shelf. He found this particular human activity especially tedious. Actually, he found any activity he could use magic for to be tedious.

“What do you mean?” she said, putting a bottle of juice back on the shelf and grabbing another. She had spent almost ten minutes examining juice labels. Loki couldn't possibly see the purpose and she had never done this before. Darcy had changed many behaviours since motherhood.

“I could have just produced our food as we used to. I quite enjoyed our ‘shopping’ excursions on Saturday mornings.”

Darcy blushed, her heart tugging her back to mornings spent sitting in Loki’s lap at the kitchen table, making a ‘shopping list’ for him to conjure. It always took the entire morning because whenever she got in his lap certain things tended to happen.

But she didn’t want to talk about that, so she ignored his allusions to their previous life. “Well, now it is just nice to get out of the house. Going out can be a big production for the two of us, but this is easy enough. And since it’s just been me I don’t need to buy that much stuff.”

Loki frowned and wandered down the aisle, leaving her to her endless choices of different types of cranberry juice. He did not enjoy these little glimpses into her life when he was not in it. He hated the idea of Darcy shopping here alone, baby strapped to her chest, buying a paltry amount of food for the week. From now on he would make her feasts. Well, not really ‘make’ but serve.

He distracted himself from her pondering of cran-grape versus low sugar versus no sugar and watched Anna sleep for a little while. She had fall asleep almost as soon as she was snuggled back against Loki’s chest and now she was in deep sleep. He watched her eyelids twitch, her mouth fall open, a bit of drool escape. She even snored a tiny bit, just like her mother. He enjoyed watching Darcy sleep and he adored watching Anna. Hopefully soon he would get the opportunity to lay down with them both and enjoy the simple quiet of their breath. Mortals were weak, but he found so much relief in hearing those he loved take breath, be alive, have beating hearts. It soothed him in a strange way at the same time that it terrified him.

Darcy was taking too long. He did not want to spend the entire day at the grocery store. He wandered back, hoping he could speed the process.

“What is the delay?”

“I think one of these juices doesn’t sit right with her, but I’m not sure which one. Probably whichever has the most acid in it…”

“What do you mean? I thought you said she only eats your milk?”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but the milk is made from what I eat. One day last month I drank a shit load of cranberry juice because I thought I was getting a UTI and then she was a nightmare for three days after.”

“Which one did you choose then?”

“I can’t remember.”

“What criteria would you have used?”

“The cheapest.”

“Don’t get that one,” Loki said plainly.

“Good point,” she sighed, grabbing a more expensive bottle and dropping it in her cart. She set off down the aisle, examining her list, and Loki trailed after her, a thought suddenly striking through him.

He caught up to her and stayed steady with her pace. “What have you done for money in my absence?” he asked. “Surely your assistant's salary is not enough to provide for a baby, and you are not even working now.” It made him ashamed of himself to think of Anna or Darcy not having what they needed because of something as ridiculous as Midgardian money. It was the stupidest way to organize a society he’d seen in a thousand years across nine realms.

“No, I’m on maternity leave,” she said, heading for the dairy aisle. “SHIELD has surprisingly decent benefits. And I was such a bitch to everyone in my third trimester that Fury let me go early. I don’t have to go back until she’s a year old. But for money, I’m using yours.” But she had cut corners (cheap juice, cheap diapers) given that she had no idea if he was ever coming back.

Loki quirked his face in confusion. “I do not have Midgardian money. I use magic.”

“Well….you do, sort of,” she corrected. “Tony hacked the SHIELD system and set you up on the payroll since, technically, you do work for them. It direct deposits in a fake bank account and then after some creative routing, it ends up in my account.”

This was a good solution, but it did not dissipate his uneasiness. “But they could easily disable it if it was discovered.”

She nodded along. “Which is why I also have a Stark Corp visa card. With no limit.”

It was Loki’s turn to nod. “It appears that Stark has done a great deal to assist you in my absence. I owe him a great deal.”

“We do,” Darcy nodded in agreement, “he and Pepper have been pretty great. I stayed with them the first month after she was born because I was terrified to be by myself. I think Pepper really liked having a baby around, so Tony might have to more to deal with than he anticipated.”

Loki nodded silently. This had not occurred to him either, how afraid Darcy must have been at the prospect of giving birth and raising a baby alone. She was so young herself. And then he felt something turn hard in the pit of his stomach. Darcy, as long as he had known her, had never been afraid of anything, including him. But his foolishness had made her afraid; the consequences were more profound than he had considered.

“And after the first month you felt better and returned to your apartment?” he asked.

“Um, yeah,” Darcy said, trying to keep her voice from hinting at how much had happened in that month. She didn’t want him dropping truth bombs on her and she also knew she couldn’t drop too many on him. It seemed as though he was starting to realize what his absence really meant. She didn’t want it to be too heavy. As angry as she was, the last thing she wanted was for him to freak out and bolt.

Darcy was able to finish her shopping in relative peace. Loki wandered around the store, pacing with his hands clasped behind his back, brooding and glaring at the floor. He was still a moody motherfucker she thought to herself. When she finally found him and announced that she was done, Loki took one look at her cart and announced that the amount was insufficient.

“Well, we aren’t feeding an army,” Darcy grumbled.

“No, we are feeding me.”

She smirked. He did eat a ton of food. “I thought you preferred to conjure your food?”

“I do.” He gave her a mischevious smile and suddenly the cart was full.

“Uh, Loki, we have to carry it home.”

“Also, not a problem,” he smiled, taking the cart and heading towards the check out. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Have you forgotten how strong I am? I can remember several occassions in which you greatly benefitted from my strength.”

“You didn't really pick up that couch and move it. I know you magicked it into the apartment.”

“No,” he smiled stopping and turning towards her. Darcy suddenly felt like it was just them again, as if there was no baby, and they weren’t even in a grocery store. He leaned towards her, backing her up against a shelf. “I was thinking specifically about how much you like for me to pick you up and take you against the wall. You once told me that standing up was one of your favorite positions because it allowed me to provoke a certain spot inside of you…”

“Ok,” Darcy said, holding up her hand, “you can’t talk like that in public. And not with a baby strapped to your chest.” Loki looked down and smiled, shifting Anna’s weight in her carrier. She twitched and whimpered, but went back to sleep. Darcy turned and pushed the cart, hurrying away from him. She had said no sexy talk with a baby in between them, and she meant it because it was weird, but Daddy Loki was about the sexiest she’d ever found him. Jesus, she thought to herself, this situation is fucked up.

Darcy waited at the end of the check out counter as a teenage boy scanned the groceries. After she looked down to dig through her bag for her wallet, she found the kid handing Loki the receipt and all the groceries were in bags in the cart. “Loki,” she growled, “come on…”

“Please, this is child’s play.”

“Someone could see.”

“No, actually, they can’t.”

“So stealing groceries is ok?”

“It was before. Money is ridiculous.”

“It is how we do things here.”

“Midgardian stupidity.”

Darcy fumed, turning quickly to collect the bags, but they were already gone. “Where’s the food?”

“In the apartment.”

He did not expect her to stomp off out the door. He thought should would appreciate saving money and not having to carry the groceries home. 

“Darcy,” he called, running after her. “What has changed that makes this upset you? It never did before.”

“Are you kidding me?” she yelled, completely exasperated with him. She gaped at him, eyes wide, and all he could do was shrug. Hands on her hips, she gave him a wilting look that he knew meant they were about to have an argument. Perhaps he had pushed things too fast.

“What is underneath your coat Loki?”

“Our baby. Anna.”

“Yes, her name is Anna. I know. I named her. She’s what’s changed you a-hole!”

Loki shifted his weight. “I don’t understand what her presence has to do with this. I thought you would appreciate the convenience.”

“Loki, you can’t shoplift and cheat your way through life around our daughter! What are you going to teach her? How to be terrible and manipulate everything? Don’t you want her to be considerate and kind and generous? Be a good person?”

Loki frowned. He had only known he was a father for less than 24 hours. He had recently mastered diaper changing. He had not yet thought about her moral upbringing. “Darcy, I think it a little early to worry about such matters.”

“No,” she said, whipping her hair over her shoulder as they set off back down the street, “it isn’t. Everything we do matters. She will learn everything from us. We have to be the way we want her to be. She has to see it all the time.”

“She is asleep.”

“You’re a jerk.”

“No, I am trying to understand the purpose of this conversation. What would you have liked me to do?”

“Not lie or steal or cheat. You have to show her how to behave.”

“That is how I behave.”

“I know!” she shouted, turning back around quickly. “And that’s my fault for getting knocked up by the god of fucking lies and dirty rotten cheating!”

They stood still and quiet on the sidewalk, Darcy panting her anger and Loki gripped by terror that he had pushed it too far and, frankly, a bit hurt.

“Look,” Darcy said, “I think it would be better if we just went home. If we’re going to have a fight it would be better not to do it on the street. You aren’t exactly Mr. Popularity in this city.”

 

They walked the rest of the way home in silence and if a great feet of timing, Anna started to squirm and cry just as they stepped into the elevator. She distracted them from each other for the next litte while as she needed to be changed. Darcy discovered that she had ‘peed through’ her onesie, so Loki learned about the fun of washing the baby carrier as well. Darcy showed him some of Anna’s favorite games including peekaboo and where’s Mommy. Loki could not imagine making the same high pitched ridiculously voice that Darcy took on only to ask his child ‘where’s Daddy,’ but Anna’s squealing giggles changed his mind. He realized that he would probably do anything to hear her make that noise.

He learned about her swing, her chair, and her stroller. He investigated her box of toys, wondering out loud when she would be introduced to more complex stimulants that furry, fake cows and pigs. Darcy just rolled her eyes and they spent a good chunk of the afternoon going through the developmental chart in the book. She was pleased that they were able to get distracted by discussing how her half-Jotun-ness might change her milestones and it was already late afternoon when she realized that she hadn’t heard from Jane all day.

She dug out her phone while Loki walked back and forth with Anna and she grimaced when she saw all her missed texts.

_How’s it going down there sweetheart? Anything unusual happen that you’d like to share?_

“Tony knows you’re here,” she said.

“How?” Loki asked, not the least bit interested in having anyone or their opinions enter into the bubble he was trying to create with Darcy and Anna. “Does he have surveillance in your apartment?” He immediately began scanning the room for devices; he had not suspected that the Iron Man would stoop to that level.

“No, but he does have cameras on the entrance and exits. He probably saw us go out to the store.”

 _It’s fine_ , she texted back, _he’s fine. We’re working on it. He’s already in love with Anna._

She sighed and saw three texts in a row from Jane. Before she checked them, she already had a message back from Tony.

_Good to know even he's not made of stone. Who wouldn't love your baby? Let me know if you need anything._

She shot a quick look at Loki, who had Anna cradled in his arms and was rocking her softly as he’d seen Darcy do several times. “Is she asleep?” she called.

“Momentarily I believe,” Loki said quietly. Watching his drowsy baby fall asleep was perhaps the most calm he had felt in his entire life. He briefly entertained the thought that he was so angry with his own family because he felt like they weren’t his. He hadn’t even known Anna a day and she was more his than anything he had ever had in his life before. Could it be possible his family felt the same about him?

Darcy sighed as she scrolled through Jane’s texts. It wasn’t too late to stop her, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to. She didn’t see any point in delaying the inevitable. She turned to let Loki know the news and she found him sitting down on the couch with a huge smile on his face.

“She’s out?”

“She’s so beautiful,” he whispered.

“That she is,” Darcy whispered. She walked over to the couch and admired the scene of the two of them for a minute. They had made a beautiful baby and it was in no small part due to the fact that Loki was an extremely handsome man. She’d almost forgotten through all her memories of his lies and his disappearing act how much she enjoyed just looking at him.

“Should I put her in her bed?” he asked, looking up at Darcy with an unsure face that made her heart slow for a second.

“You can hold her if you want. It is pretty relaxing, being a baby pillow.”

Loki nodded, he could already see the truth of it. “What should I do?”

“Get comfy on the couch. She really likes sleeping on chests.” Loki moved himself around awkwardly until he was reclining on the couch and Anna had wriggled over onto his chest. He could feel her little puffs of breath blowing across his collarbone. He settled into the couch and smiled to himself when Darcy leaned over them and pulled the blanket down from the back of the couch. She pulled it up over Anna’s back and tucked it in around her little body. She stepped back to the watch for a second and Loki watched her.

“Now what?” he asked quietly.

“Now enjoy it,” she smiled, turning her back and heading to the kitchen. “Relax.”

Loki frowned. He wished she would stay and talk to him. Instead he closed his eyes and let his mind drift to his plans for Darcy. He felt very focused, Anna’s weight and presence keeping him pinned to the couch and wanting to stay exactly where he was. He knew, however, that there would be many struggles ahead. He would need to apologize again, but he didn’t think he would be able to _convince_ Darcy that she could trust him. And he could not trick his way through this, she was too smart. He would need to be constant and unwavering. He would need to be what he had not been for many many months. Present.

Darcy delayed responding to Jane’s texts. She cleaned the kitchen and finished putting away groceries. She found her mind drifting to some of things that Loki liked to eat and planning some meals to cook for the week. But she chastised herself for it, she shouldn’t get too easily caught up in some domestic fantasy about the three of them. It didn’t help though when she wandered back into the living room and Loki was asleep as well. She grabbed her phone and took her first babby-daddy sleeping picture. She felt herself tear up a bit at the whole thing and just as she was about to put her phone away it beeped again.

_Just going to get Thai food now. Be there in a hour. Thor’s coming too._

Shit, Darcy sighed. There really was no point in delaying it. It was all going down tonight.

 _Get extra_ , she texted back, _we have a fourth._


	6. Chapter 6

She walked the length of the apartment four times before deciding to wake him up. She just couldn’t do it. Maybe last year this would have been funny, watching Thor come raging in on a sleeping Loki. But now, she almost felt bad for him. Based on what she had heard from Jane, and what she had overheard between Jane and Thor, this was going to be brutal. Darcy herself didn’t have the emotional energy to let loose on Loki yet, but she had a feeling the same could not be said for her friends.

“Hey,” she said softly, crouching at the end of the couch and shaking his foot, “Loki wake up.”

He made some kind of growling noise and turned his head, his hand clenching onto Anna and rolling them both into the back of the couch. Darcy smiled at how even mostly asleep he managed that pretty well. Anna wound up cradled in his arm, happily dreaming away about eating. Darcy could see her little mouth moving like she was suckling.

“Loki…” she said again, tickling the bottom of his foot. It was an old trick that usually worked.

“No,” he humphed, pulling his foot away, “I am having a lovely dream. About you. And you are naked.”

She rolled her eyes. “Your brother is on his way here. And so is Jane.”

That got his attention. “Really,” he sighed dejectedly, “I haven’t even been back a day.”

“They are bringing Thai food.”

That pulled his eyes open. “I very much enjoy Thai food.”

“I know you do, but they obviously aren’t getting it for you because they don’t know you’re here.”

That got him to sit up, pulling Anna with him until she was huddled against his chest again. “You did not tell them I was back?”

“I haven’t talk to them,” she sighed, “just texts. Honestly, Loki, I don’t even know what to say. You showed up shirtless in my bedroom last night and have been busy playing Daddy all day.”

He scowled slightly and then leaned forward, one arm holding the baby against him and the other hand reaching for Darcy’s. “I’m not playing my love,” he said softly. “I’m not going anywhere. I want to be here with you and Anna.”

She still couldn’t take his advances or his honesty. She pulled away from his grasp and stood up, Loki sighing heavily at the distance she kept between them. “Well then,” he said, moving on, “what have things been like with them whilst I’ve been away?”

Darcy moved to the kitchen to get a drink and came back with two bottles of beer. When she was able to drink again, she somehow only wanted to buy the kind of beer he liked. It was silly, but it felt like it meant something to have it in the house. “Well, Jane is around almost everyday,” she said as she watched Loki take a long pull from his bottle. She tried not to watch his neck stretch as he drank. “She loves being an aunt and she usually shows up with something for Anna. That why that box of toys is so big even though she can’t really play with any of them yet.”

Loki nodded. He remembered from his various excursions over the millennia that Midgardian women knew how to support each other through these sorts of ordeals. That was something that had not changed over time.

“But your brother...is very mad at you,” Darcy said quietly. Loki sighed loudly.

“I expected as much.”

“Don’t get me wrong, he loves Anna. He comes at least once a week, although you have to watch him because he doesn’t quite know his own strength sometimes. But he is angry that you left me and that he couldn’t find you. And I think he’s angry that you didn’t let him in on whatever your reason for going was.”

“Do you not want to know why I left?” he asked quietly. “You have not asked. I thought you would ask.”

“I don’t know,” she said, trying to keep her voice even. “I don’t know if I want to know what was a good enough reason for you to disappear. Honestly, I don’t know if I want to forgive you or not, and if the reason is good I might not have a choice and if the reason is bad, I might not have a choice either.”

Loki nodded solemnly. It was perhaps too much to expect that they could work through all of this quickly. But he didn’t want to keep things from her anymore, that seemed to counter the direction they were trying to move in. He took another swig of his beer, trying to decide where to move the conversation. She disliked his solicitous comments. If they were not arguing and Anna was not awake to distract them, it was a bit awkward between them. The silence was filled up with all the things they couldn’t say.

He was relieved of the pressure of watching her think by the buzzer on the door. Darcy was up to answer it quickly and just before she turned the knob she looked back at him. “Are you ready?” she asked. He moved to nod, but his brother’s voice boomed from the other side of the door.

“Lady Darcy? Are you well? We are here.”

“Thor,” they heard Jane admonish, “the baby could be asleep.”

“Oh, yes, sorry” he whispered, still loud enough they could both hear him through the door. Darcy smiled and rolled her eyes, giving Loki one last glance before opening the door.

“Lady Darcy!” Thor boomed, “greetings! I have brought you red curry with chicken, your favorite. And also the twice cooked rice with pineapple. And small beef on sticks with ground nuts.”

“Thanks Thor,” she smiled, standing back to let them in. Jane was first and Darcy watched her face drop into blankness as she slowed her pace into the apartment. Thor was looking at the bags in his hands, talking about the extra food they had brought.

“And who is your guest?” he inquired, before looking up and seeing his brother sitting on the couch holding Anna, who was just starting to wake up.

“Not a guest,” Loki said, standing up to greet them. “Hello brother, Lady Jane.”

Thor and Jane were silent and so Darcy started to take the packages from their hands, depositing them on the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. Thor spoke first.

“Brother,” he growled, his voice dropping an octave, “you have returned.”

“Yes,” Loki said, his voice fixed and firm, “just last night.”

“And I see you have already made yourself comfortable.”

“Ah yes,” Loki smiled, looking down at Anna who now had her eyes open but was still weak with sleep. “She is quite a joy.”

Jane scoffed and turned into the kitchen, giving Darcy a stern look. “You couldn’t have told us?” she asked.

“And ruin the surprise?” Darcy joked, trying to defuse the tension. She looked around and Thor was starting to shift his weight, his fists clenched at his sides. Loki turned his back towards the couch, both hands clutching Anna. She chose that as a good moment to start whimpering and Darcy knew she was hungry. She’d already been dreaming about eating.

“Loki,” Thor said, his voice heavy with anger, “there is much to discuss. You have been gone too long.”

“Ok,” Darcy said, pushing her way into the living room. “That’s all well and good, but let’s not start that when he’s holding the baby.” She moved to pull Anna out of his arms and Loki shot her a disappointed look. “She’s not a shield,” she whispered, taking Anna from him.

Loki relented and Darcy turned towards Jane and Thor while trying to hold a now squirming Anna. “She’s hungry. I’m gonna go feed her and then we can eat. Try not to kill each other while I’m gone.”

No one even acknowledged her exit to the bedroom and as soon as they heard the door click, Thor held out his hand towards Jane.

“My love, wait one moment,” Thor said. Loki glanced at Jane and saw her face was red and she was poised to begin yelling. “Loki, I think it would be best if you dropped a veil of silence over us. Things are about to be said that you would rather not have Darcy hear.”

Loki sighed and waved his hand and after a few seconds Thor dropped his arm and Jane pounced.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she shrieked, stomping across the room. “A year? You’ve been gone a fucking year and then you just waltz back in here and think nothing of it?”

“Clearly,” Loki began, bored at having to point out the obvious, “I did not know that Darcy was pregnant.”

“Yeah, but you still left her for a year. There could have been someone else here when you got back! Did you ever consider that? She could have moved on with her life. What do you think you are? The center of the universe?”

“Lady Jane, I think very highly of you,” Loki said, trying to control the condescension in his voice, “but please do not take to speculation as to what goes on between Darcy and I. I did not for one second consider that there would be another man here in my stead. Things between Darcy and I are thicker than that.”

“Thicker? Really?” Jane fumed. “Thick enough that she can’t replace you, but you can go off galavanting for a year with no thought to those you left behind? We know you didn’t even peek in on her. If you had you would have seen what was going on.”

“And I would have come back, yes,” he continued. “My travels took longer than expected and I traveled farther than I thought I would. If I had been able to see her through time and space, I would have come back but I could not.”

“Where did you go brother?” Thor asked tensely. “I looked for you.”

“I have been across the nine realms.”

“All of them?” Thor asked, raising his eyebrows.

“All,” Loki replied, his voice trying to communicate the seriousness of his absence to his brother. “You and I should speak in private.”

“In private!” Jane yelled. “You don’t think you need to tell us mere mortals what you were doing?”

“Darcy does not wish to know yet.”

“Well I do! I was here when you weren’t. I have taken care of her every step of the way and I think I deserve some reasons.”

Loki held up his hands, trying to communicate his sincerity. Sincerity was not his strong suit. “I thank you, Lady Jane, for your service. I know you have done much and that is has been difficult.”

Jane narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you know of it?” she said, her voice turning icy.

Loki returned his gaze. “I know you saw Darcy through the labor and the birth. I know you come often to keep her company and bring toys for Anna. You are a good friend.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” she spit. “You are the most selfish person, no thing, I have ever met. You don’t even know what went on here while you gone and you wouldn’t know would you because far as I can tell you don’t give a rat’s ass about anyone but yourself. Have you even asked her what it was like when you were gone?”

Loki flinched when she called him a thing. He didn’t know if she did it on purpose because she was angry or because she too thought he was a monster, not even deserving to be called a person. Although he would object to being called ‘human.’ He tried again. “I understand that…”

“No, you haven’t asked because you don’t have the balls to do it,” she barrelled on. “You’re a coward, which is why you left in the first place. I bet you think you understand that she stayed up long nights, that she was lonely, that she had to lean on us. You don’t know anything.”

“I understand what it feels like to be lonely.”

“I know you do,” she yelled, “which is why this is so fucked up! You haven’t asked because the details are unbearable. Did she tell you about her nightmares? Months and months of barely sleeping, _while she was pregnant_ , because she was terrified that something would happen to the baby or to her and she would be here all alone! Or what about the mastitis? She stayed with Tony and Pepper because she was so sick and in so much pain she could barely take care of herself let alone the baby. And god, the labor! I went through it with her for 46 hours! She suffered so much and all she wanted through all of it was you. She cried for you! Worthless, selfish, foolish, stupid, pointless you! I stayed on this couch night after night so she wouldn’t be alone and I could hear her in there crying for you, begging you to come home.”

Loki stared at Jane, finding himself suddenly furious. One part of him wanted to squash her for her insolence, but he knew that she was just the messenger of a truth he didn’t really want to know. She was just telling the story of the mess he’d created. And she was right. He didn’t want to hear all of that, he could barely take the truth. He preferred lies.

Jane wasn’t done. “When she found out she was pregnant, after you’d been gone a little while, she collapsed in her room and cried for three days straight. I had to force her to drink water and eat. I had to put her in the shower. She completely shut down, terrified to be alone and pregnant. Not to mention that you broke her fucking heart! Fuck it, you almost broke her! And never for one second, against the advice of everyone, did she think of getting rid of the baby because it was your baby and she loves you.”

Now Loki was truly angry. “You advised her to terminate her pregnancy?”

“I wasn’t the only one,” Jane seethed, looking at Thor.

“Brother?” Loki asked, his voice incredulous.

“It was worth considering!” Thor roared in response. “You, gone again, her so young and without the resources to care for an infant. We are talking about her life Loki, which you seem to care very little for!”

“Do not lecture me on how I feel about Darcy!” he yelled. “I am the only one who knows the truth of that!”

“She sure as shit doesn’t know,” fumed Jane. That caught his attention. It couldn’t be possible that Darcy did not know that he loved her.

“Mother knows,” Thor said. “She says she has seen it.”

“What?” Loki said, suddenly hopefully that this would all be resolved. “What has she seen?”

“She would not tell me, only that she knew that your feelings for Darcy were true and deep. She would not believe me when I went to tell her.”

“Tell her what?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

“That you abandoned your pregnant mate.”

“You told our parents _that_?” he gasped, horrified to learn there was another mess on Asgard to clean up.

“Of course I did. I needed their help.” Thor’s face turned red as his own anger started to ratchet up. “I looked for you for months!” If anyone ever doubted that Thor was the God of Thunder, the way his voice shook the apartment would have convinced them of the truth.

Loki looked at the floor, hands on his hips. If he could just explain to Thor he would have an ally in this, he was sure of it. The way Jane was looking at him made him feel confident that she would not be easily convinced. Even though he was feeling increasingly like a cornered animal, he knew he could not allow the situation to escalate further. His lover and his baby were nearby.

“Brother,” he said, standing up a bit taller, “please accompany me to the rooftop and let us talk.”

“Fine!” Jane yelled, throwing up her hands. She stomped back down the hall towards the bedroom.

“She is feeding the baby,” Loki called, hoping to convince Jane not to intrude on Darcy’s private time with Anna.

But Jane just shrugged. “We’ve seen it a thousand times,” she said before disappearing through the door.

Thor was already waiting at the front door but Loki had to pull himself together. It cut more than he anticipated to realize that he was the only one that was excluded from the feeding ritual. Jane said ‘we’ve,’ which would imply that Darcy even allowed Thor to witness it.

Finally, he made to follow his brother up the stairs and to the roof of the building. When he arrived, Thor was already pacing.

“I should hammer you into the ground!” he yelled, pointing his finger at his brother. “Lies! Mischief! Chaos! Those are not apt enough descriptions for your talents brother. We should call you the God of Pain and Betrayal!”

“Brother, please, let us talk. I have much to tell you of my journey.”

Thor scowled. “What did you find, some old magic relics?”

“Yes.” Loki kept his stance firm; he needed to convince Thor of the rationale for his disappearance.

“Loki,” Thor yelled, “how could more toys for your tricks possibly have been worth all of this!”

“I have found the stone that controls time.”

“What?” Thor recoiled. He was confused and caught short.

“Do you want her to die?” Loki said, his voice turning quiet and deadly serious. Thor couldn’t help but hear the pain in his voice as he said it, the soberness of the reality. “I cannot let Darcy go. I will not be without her. Could you let Jane pass into nothingness?”

Thor shook his head. Of course he did not want Jane to die. He thought about all the time. “But the stone is not real,” he murmured, his mind already turning over the implications of Loki’s claims.

“They are all real,” Loki replied, his voice impatient with Thor’s thick headedness. “And this one, broken into shards and buried across nine realms, is very real. When the time is right, I will make them ours for eternity.”

“Loki, we have the apples.”

“The Allfather will not let them eat from the orchard,” Loki yelled. “He does not want us tied to mortals, especially you. If you do not believe me, ask mother. She has said it was so.”

He shouldn’t have said that, but already he saw the light of the truth dawning in Thor’s gaze. “Did she tell you to go find the stone?” he asked warily.

“She may have hinted there was another way.”

“When?” he pressed.

“I visited her, about a month before I left. Darcy and I had an argument and I felt...things I did not expect to feel. I sought mother’s counsel and she gave me what knowledge she had of the stone’s possible whereabouts.”

“So she knew where you could be?”

“No, I suspect she knew what I was doing, but not where I was.”

“Then why did neither of you tell me!” he roared again. The idea that his mother kept him in the dark about this angered him immensely. He had gone to her twice in his fruitless search. “I would have helped you find it Loki. I care for Jane as much as you care for Darcy.”

“I am sorry brother, but I could not risk bringing attention to the search. It would have attracted too much suspicion if the both of us set off on this quest.”

“But you could of at least told me,” he protested. “I could have made your case throughout this. Now you are left to mend fences with her and I am afraid brother that you will not be able to. She is very hurt.”

“I know,” he nodded, “but she will not cast me out. She loves me, even if she cannot say so.”

Thor shook his head at Loki’s arrogance. “Do not mistake the power of her doubt, especially now with the child. If she believes you to be untrue, she will choose the protection of the baby over herself.”

“That I know,” Loki smiled, “but fortunately there is a very easy fix. I will simply not be untrue.”

At that Thor let out a loud bark of a laugh. “Easier said than done for the God of Mischief,” he smiled and Loki knew from the look on Thor’s face that he was forgiven. He had talked his way into his brother’s good graces at least a thousand times, maybe ten thousand. Forgiveness was old hat between them.  “And what now?” he continued. “What is next with the stone?”

“I have all the pieces and I must find a way to repair it. The ancients fractured it so as to protect us from its power. It could warp the worlds if we are not careful.”

“But how will you use it?”

“I know not...yet. But I have it and no one knows I do. That is sufficient for now. We have some time.”

The two men stared out at the night time sky line, each wondering in their own way how they had arrived in a foreign realm, tied so intricately to two young Midgardian women. They stayed on the roof a sufficient amount of time as to lead Darcy and Jane to believe that they were truly raging against each other. They stayed until their hungry stomachs got the better of them.

“You know,” said Thor, as they descended the stairs, “we cannot appear to have reconciled, at least not until we are ready to tell them what you were doing on your travels.”

“I know,” Loki sighed, instantly wary of creating any more lies to spin around Darcy.

“But it shall be fun!” Thor said happily. “You are the God of Mischief, I never get to play at any games.”

“You think this will be a game?” Loki asked incredulously turning on the stairs to face his brother.

“Absolutely!” Thor smiled. “I intend to torture you and you shall have no recourse. This is going to be grand brother!” And with that Thor smacked Loki on the shoulder and pushed past him on the stairs. “Come! I have purchased the beef and ginger dish we both enjoy.”

 

The table was largely quiet as they made their way through dinner. On the one hand, there wasn’t much small talk to be made. On the other, it wasn’t wise to distract Thor and Loki from eating. They each had four or five containers of food around their plates, shoveling food into their mouths with periodic grunts of appreciation directed at either each other of the general atmosphere. Jane and Darcy picked at their much more modest servings of Pad Thai and Red Curry. Anna wiggled in her bouncing chair in between Jane and Thor.

“Have you ever noticed,” Darcy said to Jane, her voice low and conspiring, “how disgusting it can be to watch the two of them eat when they are really hungry?”

“Absolutely,” Jane sighed. “For gods they are only a few steps away from being animals.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy gets introspective...and a little be smutty.

 

“Yes!” Loki shouted, thrusting his arms up into the air, “Anna, well done!”

“What?” Darcy called, leaning over the kitchen counter.

“She has rolled over on her own!” he called. Darcy moved quickly and smiled as she saw Anna on her back looking completely bewildered as she stared up at Loki, who was sitting in front of her. Her eyes glanced to Darcy, who gave her a big smile and clapped her hands. She seemed to understand her parents’ enthusiasm because she thrust her arms and legs out triumphantly and grunted.

“See if she can do it again,” Darcy said, coming to stand at Loki’s shoulder. She watched him coax Anna back on to her stomach, whispering to her to try another. Anna pushed herself up on her forearms and rocked until, with a great burst of energy, she flung herself rather inelegantly to the side. She seemed to flex her neck awkwardly mid-roll and when she landed on her back, her head hit the floor with audible clunk.

Anna looked startled for a second as both her parents gasped and Loki’s heart sank as he watched her little face melt into sadness. “Oh no darling,” he cooed, leaning over her and kissing her face multiple times, “don’t cry, you are fine. It was just loud.” He gently turned her head to inspect the damage, although he knew it was impossible for there to be any. He rubbed Anna’s tummy as he nuzzled her face, whispering little soothing words to her and Darcy watched as his hand shot out to the side, grabbing Anna’s current favorite toy and bringing it to her grasp. “Look my love,” he said, “Mr. Monkey also thinks all is well. See, he will make it better.”

Darcy shook her head watching this scene unfold in front of her. In the course of one month, Loki seemed to have settled into parenting with infinite grace. It irritated her that her own entry had not been so smooth, but she was glad. He focused so much energy on Anna that it made their own problems secondary. After their dinner with Jane and Thor, Loki seemed to have quieted down somewhat. She didn’t ask him why he left and he didn’t offer it. Before she knew it, a month had passed and Loki was still sleeping on the couch and although they bickered occasionally, most of their energy, almost all of it, was focused on Anna. Although, despite being unforthcoming in most areas of their relationship, he hit on her constantly, sometimes in a sweet way and sometimes it was just downright dirty. He made it very clear that he would like to resume his place in her bed.

She didn’t always like these moments when Loki and Anna were playing together. It gave her too much time to think. While Anna shifted her attention to Mr. Monkey, Darcy retreated back to the kitchen to think about possibilities for dinner as a way to distract herself, but it wasn’t working. She watched Loki pick Anna up and start walking around the apartment. They were having a conversation, that was the best way to describe it. He was speaking to her in some alien language and it made her giggle more than Darcy had ever seen her. She would squawk and screech in response and Loki would laugh and keep going with his funny words and she thrashed and howled and loved every second of it. It hadn’t taken anytime at all and Anna loved every second she had with her daddy. So, Darcy flopped on the couch and watched, giving in to the inevitable flood of recollections, considerations, and doubts that plagued her constantly.

She was pleased to see the two of them bonding. She wanted her daughter to have a close relationship with her father, she wanted her to feel that sense of safety, of an ever present net below her no matter what she might do or where she might go. That wasn’t the part of this whole arrangement that made her uncomfortable. She was uncomfortable because Loki was more sexy to her now than he had ever been. It was almost uncontrollable how hot she found him as an attentive partner and a doting father. She knew her heart and her mind were not ready to go there with him yet, even if he made his interest abundantly clear on a daily basis. The problem was that her vagina felt very differently. Her vagina wanted Loki very very badly. At the worst moments of her pregnancy hormones she dreamed of him coming back to her so she could fuck him senseless and then kill him violently. It had been over a year since he’d touched her, since anyone had touched her, and she needed that comfort from him. But she couldn’t have it and that made her angry at him all over again. Yet another thing that his selfishness had fucked up.

It didn’t help that everything in the apartment had memories of the two of them together; the kitchen table, the shower, the floor in the hallway, the front door, the bedroom, everywhere. When they had been lovers they were adventurous and insatiable and had each other whenever and wherever they wanted. Darcy let her fingers wander over the old, plush fabric of her couch. She had such good memories on the couch. So many moments of passion, but her favorites were at the very beginning before they started having sex. Loki spent six months at the SHIELD labs with Jane before he approached Darcy. He was attempting to make amends with Thor and the others by trying to help Jane and Bruce. Darcy had been shocked when he asked her out on a proper date. He had made some pretense of courting her, saying that he was interested anthropologically in Midgardian mating rituals. As such, he came to her apartment with take out from her favorite restaurants and they watched movies on her couch. After a few of those, the dates started to progress to physical activities as well. But, because he had such an academic interest, Darcy insisted that he had to learn the way any normal Midgardian man would. That meant there were many nights of making out, heavy petting, some light dry humping, and several instances of Loki magicking himself home with a raging hard on. Watching him try to maintain his composure and not just take her had been wonderfully entertaining.

Her teasing had been worth it though, because on the night they finally broke, he simply lifted her in his arms, took her to her bedroom and fucked her like she had never been fucked before. To say that Loki was a god in every way was an understatement. She had realized, after that night, that she would probably never have great sex with any other man. They would always be measured against him and she silently cursed him for ruining it. He would have to stay around, she told him, if for no other reason that no one else would ever be able to satisfy her. Darcy knew she was young and she hadn’t been with that many men, and maybe most of them were still boys, but no one had ever appreciated her the way Loki did, almost worshipped her. It made it all the more hard to reconcile with the fact that the longer they were together, the more she was convinced that he would probably never love her. He was close one moment and distant the next, passionate, but almost never tende,r and never ever vulnerable with her. He was in charge and the more she fell for him, the more she knew that something between them was destined to be terribly unequal, maybe always. His exit was only proof that she’d been right.

She had decided, since he’d been gone, that she could go back on her word. She believed she could learn to love and enjoy sex with someone else, someone who didn’t run off and leave her in the middle of the night. Someone who didn’t leave without any way to get in touch with him. Someone who might have wondered how she was doing once in a while. Someone who didn’t abandon her to do the most difficult thing she would ever have to do all by herself. He was not the end all, be all. If he could do to her what he had done, there was no way she could allow him to assume that kind of power in her life.

It still hurt. It ached inside her chest and even the happy sounds of her daughter falling in love with her father couldn’t ease it. And it ached down below, desperately tense for the relief only he could give her. She wondered momentarily if she was taking the wrong approach. Making he could fuck the pain away. They had only really ever had one fight. It had begun at SHIELD, continued in the taxi, and ate up most of a night spent stomping around her apartment and yelling. It was over something kind of ridiculous; Loki was jealous and possessive when a SHIELD agent chatted Darcy up in the hallway. He was terribly angry that the man would have even thought it possible to tread where Loki had so clearly marked his territory and Darcy was very clear that she was not territory, she was a person, and he was being irrational. When it got to the point that he looked like he was going to either melt or explode, he simply pulled her to the couch, pushed her skirt up to her waist, and went down on her until she was begging for him to fuck her and practically pulling his hair out of his head. If that was how they dealt with their last fight, maybe they should try it again.

She clenched her thighs as the memories of it washed over her for the maybe the hundredth time. She thought about that night all the time. It was late, and they were both exhausted and on edge at the same time. She was practically folded in half in the very corner of the couch where she was now reclined. Loki buried in his face in her, his tongue relentlessly stroking her, teasing her, bringing her over the edge multiple times. He had a talent for that particular activity that Darcy had never experienced with anyone else. He loved it and he made the sexiest, hungriest noises when he went down on her. He said the dirtiest things about the way she tasted and how it made him harder than mew-mew. He rose above her after her third orgasm, his cock practically purple with need and leaking onto her stomach. He threw her legs over his shoulders and filled her over and over until she was hoarse from screaming his name. She could practically feel the sensations now; the wet, hot slide of tongue across her tender lips and the hard, thick plunging of his cock inside her.

She tore herself away from the memory because, as usual, it made her eyes water. It wasn’t the intensity of the sex, it was after. After he had collapsed on her, her legs wrapping around his waist to hold him close, and she could feel him shaking in her arms. He kissed her over and over, panting that she was his. “You are mine,” he said, never opening his eyes, “I will have you always.” It was the closest he had ever come to saying he loved her or needed her. One month later, he was gone.

She had wondered many times since then if that had been the beginning of the end. Maybe he’d decided then that he didn’t want to be with a mortal anymore. But his actions didn’t say that. After that night on the couch, he practically fused himself to her. They spent every second they could together. He made love to her over and over, whispering the same thing in her ear, telling her that that she was his and he would have her forever. She started to see glimpses of something else; he was more reverent, emotional, needy, insatiable. But she knew it wasn’t true, he couldn’t have her forever. She knew it then and she felt it even more now that they had a child. In thirty years she would start to grow old and twenty after that she would be frail and in the mere blink of an eye for Loki and her daughter, Darcy would be gone. And in a thousand years she would be a memory of a feeling they could barely recall and that would be it.

It was almost five o’clock. Anna had taken an unusually long nap that afternoon, during which Loki had buried himself in a stack of books he’d conjured from some other realm. Darcy had been grateful for the silence because she didn’t know how to move forward with him and she was always anxious that the quiet could be filled up with honesty about what was between them. In the month he had been back he had been consistently present. He was never gone. And because she didn’t have anything to do but take care of Anna, she was also there as well. She thought it would have forced the issue, but she was doing a remarkable job of avoiding any and all areas of ‘truthness’ around him. He irritated her, provoked her, charmed her, entertained her, made her melt in one second and then freeze back together in the next, but it was all a dance around the things they weren’t going to talk about. She didn’t even know what she wanted from him anymore except for him to just be there. That wasn’t true; she wanted a life with him but she didn’t know if she could trust him. Why should she let him have what he so carelessly threw away?

Anna and Loki were so entranced in their game that neither of them noticed Darcy retreat to the bedroom and come back with her jacket. “I’m going for a walk,” she announced pausing at the front door.

Loki looked up, completely startled. “You’re leaving?” he asked, his voice suddenly nervous. “For how long?”

“Not long. I just want to go for a walk.”

“We can come with you. I will prepare the stroller.”

“No, I want to go by myself. You two can stay here.”

Loki shifted his weight. This would be his first time alone with the baby. He had tended to her while Darcy slept, but he was comforted by knowing she was just in the next room. “Are you sure?” he asked, hoping she would make him feel better about this. “We may need you.”

“No, she should be fine. She just ate, you know how to change her diaper. Just don’t drop her. I”ll be back in a bit.” And then, as quick as she could, she walked out the door. She had never left Anna with anyone else, but she had to start sometime and she needed to get out before she lost her shit.

The chilling air of late afternoon/early evening stung as she left the building and it stole the need to cry from her. She took a deep breath and realized she should have brought her warmer jacket. It was that time of year when the days were pleasant but the night was still cold. It was seductive and false, kind of like someone else she knew. As Darcy set off down the street, she wondered briefly where she should go before deciding she would just walk straight for twenty minutes and then turn back around. Now that she was actually out of the house, she was gripped with panic about Anna not being with her. She repeated to herself over and over that it was fine and tried to clear her mind and focus on her Loki problem rather than irrational concerns about her baby. Maybe she would only walk for 15 minutes before she turned around and went home. This constant back and forth between baby and man with nothing resolved, this emotional holding pattern, was definitely not working for her anymore.

After only ten minutes of wandering through the neighborhood, she felt a presence behind her. She turned around quickly and of course she saw nothing. She would never see him, or anything, coming. He was a trickster god. But she believed that he was sincere in his promise not to use magic on Anna, so unless he ran like hell to catch up with her, that left only one solution.

She stopped at a cafe she liked and bought some treats for dessert and then she started a meandering stroll back home. Nothing had changed, nothing was different, but she somehow felt more resolved in her feelings, more ready to hear the truth about some things. Maybe she just needed to decide that she was ready. The whole way home she felt his presence at her back.

The second she opened the door to the apartment, she knew everything was fine. There was no crying, no Asgardian swear words, no crazy magic in the house. Anna was on the floor under her ocean-themed play gym. She loved the octopus with rings that when she yanked on them made bubbling gurgle sounds. She thought that was pretty awesome. Darcy could see that she was pretty content with her toys.

Loki, on the other hand, looked a bit frantic. He was pacing, his face fixed and serious, and it looked like he was actually chewing on his fingernails. He watched wordlessly as Darcy slipped in and hung her jacket over the back of a chair and dropped the bag of pastries on the counter.

Darcy rounded on him as she steadied herself for a confrontation. She could tell he saw it coming. “Did you send a double to follow me?” she asked.

“Yes.”

She narrowed her eyes; it was clear he wasn’t in the volunteering mood. “Why?”

“You were distressed.”

That surprised her and she could hide it. “Why do you find that shocking?” he asked, his voice turning somewhat edgier.

She shrugged. “I guess I just…”

“You thought I was spying on you.”

“No, not exactly,” she said, her hands drifting to the back of the couch, fidgeting and picking at balls of lint.

“You left quickly and it was clear that you were upset. I did not know why you were upset. I did not know where you were going or when you would return. It made me…

“Panic?” she asked, feeling a bit of her gumption return. “Scared? Left in the dark?”

“Yes,” he said quietly, realizing where she was taking the conversation. As much as he wanted this to happen he was terrified of this discussion; he’d been happy to avoid it ever since his talk with Thor on the roof. Too much honesty and he would have to lie to her, which he did not want to do. He had hoped that he could slip himself back into her life without ever having to have these difficult, emotional conversations.

She was still staring at him. “But I came back,” she continued, “and you knew I would come back. I wouldn’t leave her.”

“I am not concerned about you leaving her,” he said. She narrowed her gaze at him. He was being weird. He wasn’t moving or coming towards her, not trying to placate or seduce or manipulate the conversation.

“You were scared to be alone with her?”

“No, I can care for our child apart from the issue of feeding her,” he answered, trying to stifle the indignation in his voice. “Although if we were to become desperate on that front, I would break your magic rule. I would not let her suffer.”

“Then what was it, Loki? And why are you being all cagey right now?”

“As I said, I am not concerned about you leaving her,” he sighed, looking down at the floor. For all his might as a god, he felt weak in her presence. “I am,” he murmured, “very concerned about you leaving me.”

Darcy didn’t say anything and would no longer meet  his eye. Her shoulders slumped and whatever courage she had found on her walk was gone. He knew she had come home prepared to fight and instead he had made her sad. It broke him to know the depths of what he had done. He decided that he only had a few things he could offer to try and mend what he had broken and one of them was himself. He remembered what Jane had said in her anger the first night he was back. If Darcy truly did not know then it was time for him to confess.

He pushed himself to go to her although his muscles felt weak and he felt more apprehensive than he did walking into Helheim. She turned to move away from him, but he reached out and grasped her by her upper arms, pulling her closer to his chest. She dropped her chin, unable to look him in the face. And so he leaned forward and spoke his truth into her hair.

“If I have not been clear in the past, let me correct the confusion,” he said, his voice softer than Darcy had ever heard it. “When I have said that you are mine, that I must have you, what I have meant, for some time now, is that I love you. I love you unlike I have ever loved anyone or anything in more than a thousand years. It is quite terrifying and I was, and remain, unprepared for it. It makes me childish and selfish and my own insufficiencies are clearly the reason we are in the situation we are now. But nonetheless, it remains true, that I love you Darcy Lewis and I want to be with you if you will have me.”

Loki, more than anything, was terrified of rejection. Every second that passed of Darcy not responding was like a knife stabbing his gut. One stab per second. He could vaguely hear Anna’s gurgling sounds in the background, but his entire focus was, for once, on Darcy. “Do you not love me as well?” he asked quietly, finally unable to endure her silence.

Her eyes watered and the tears started to fall. “I do,” she said, her voice half lost in her throat.

Loki nodded, realizing the impasse they were at. “But you cannot forgive me,” he said. He felt an unfamiliar feeling in the back of his eyes, as if they stung and ached at the same time.

“It is not a matter of forgiving you, Loki,” she whispered. “I don’t trust you.”

“What will it take?” he murmured in return.

“I don’t know. Time...at the very least.” She pulled herself away from him and Loki watched her hurry into the bathroom. He knew she was crying even if she wouldn’t let him see it. He turned his attention first to Anna, who was still occupied with her octopus, and then to the kitchen. He felt awash in guilt and fear and a bit of nausea, but he also felt affirmed. Darcy loved him. He would not desist or relent or collapse. He would remain steadfast and undeterred. It was time to make Darcy some dinner.

“Time,” he smiled to himself, as he conjured up her favorite lasagna. “I am the master of time.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A breakthrough?

Darcy lay awake, utterly distracted by two unfolding events. One, Anna was whimpering in her cradle and she expected at any moment for her to descend into full on screaming. It wasn’t time for her to be hungry and she probably didn’t need to be changed, which meant they might just be in for one of those nights. Two, Loki was moving around in the apartment. It actually sounded like he was pacing. She shouldn’t be surprised, it had been an emotional evening. He finally said he loved her and she said it back and then she cried in the bathroom for half an hour until Loki tapped on the door and said he’d made her lasagna. The entire thing was completely surreal and about 180 degrees from what she had dreamed the two of them could be. When she finally came out, blotchy faced and angry with herself for finally collapsing, he, mercifully, already had Anna settled in her swing and the next season of House cued up on the TV. They both liked the show (Loki said the doctor character was ‘worthy of notice’) and it allowed them to sit in comfortable silence.

As soon as the clock struck 8pm Darcy started organizing Anna’s bath. It gave them another half an hour of activities without having to actually talk to each other. They avoided eye contact and focused on the baby and when she was all snuggly in her pjs, Darcy deposited Anna on the couch with Loki and a stack of books. They she had a beer in silence in the kitchen, listening to stories about little nutbrown hare. By 9:30, she stole the baby back and retreated to her room for Anna’s last bedtime feeding. She put her down to sleep and didn’t bother going back to the living room even to say goodnight. The baby was protection and right now she was sleeping, even if it was fitful. That meant that unless she wanted to be awkward or honest, she had to hide out in her room.

Her mind was spinning with the revelations of the night. He loved her or at least as much as he was able to comprehend love. He seemed to think he had loved her for a long time, since before he left. All those proprietary declarations were supposed be romantic? They made her feel owned and used and wanted and they were seriously confusing. She glanced over and watched the numbers of her alarm clock flip over. She wasn’t looking forward to a sleepless night spent tossing and turning over Loki. Since Anna’s arrival, she had been too tired for that. Now, it felt like it was rearing back. She wished she didn’t have to go through it alone.

And just like that, as if she could sense her mother’s need for a distraction, Anna’s wails pierced the silence of the apartment. Darcy suspected it might be a restless night for her; she’d been fussy and hard to settle while she nursed. Maybe she could sense the tension in the house. Since she hadn’t eaten much, Darcy quickly offered her a boob, but Anna jerked away in her arms and wailed louder. Darcy was already bouncing her, trying to sooth her, when Loki’s head slowly peered around her door.

“That is not a hungry cry nor a poop cry nor a tired cry,” he said. Darcy tried not to be impressed that he was already observing the patterns in her voice. “It is a cry of distress. What is the matter with our baby?” He came forward without an invitation, clearly troubled by Anna’s pained wail.

“She probably has a little tummy ache or something,” Darcy sighed. “Sometimes she has these nights where she just can’t settle down.”

“Perhaps if she is gassy it will help if she does the bicycle exercise,” Loki suggested. “I read it in the baby book.”

“Yeah,” Darcy shrugged, “sometimes that helps.” Together they laid her on the bed and Darcy stepped back, letting Loki take Anna’s little legs and pump them back and forth. It did not seem to resolve her cries. Loki stood above, already getting flustered as Anna’s face flushed a deeper pink, and looked helplessly at Darcy.

“She is still distressed,” he said, motioning towards the writhing infant. “What do we do next?”

“Well,” Darcy sighed, walking over to the window and opening it a few inches, “it is going to be a long night. Sometimes, she just has to cry it out. She doesn’t have a fever, she doesn’t need to be changed, and she won’t eat. So we give her a little fresh air, which she likes, and…”

“And what?” his voice escalating in desperation.

“And we walk,” Darcy said brightly, picking up the baby and holding her close. She started to pace the floor. “And we bounce a bit, and maybe we sing. Sometimes she likes her swing. We try to calm down.”

“What should I do?” Loki interjected.

“Well, you can do this if you want,” Darcy shrugged in response. She held the squalling baby out to Loki and he took her swiftly if not completely confidently. He held her close and rubbed her back and began to pace the apartment.

Two hours later, Darcy couldn’t believe that he was still at it. Yes, she’d done the same thing many times by that point but if there had been someone to hand the baby off to, she would have done it. When she offered to tag in and take a shift, he simply shook his head. “She does not want to be jostled,” he said quietly. So Darcy laid in bed, watching her former lover pace and pat and whisper to their baby. She tried not to let it get to her, but it did.

This he was good at. His love was clearly etched in every line on his face; even his god tricks couldn’t hide it. As they rounded into the third hour of pacing and crying, she had to marvel at his commitment. He did not waiver or complain, he only did what he thought might calm Anna. Darcy chewed her lip as she watched him pace and rock. She had to give credit where credit was due, it wasn’t like he hadn’t demonstrated his ability to commit in the past. He tried to take over Earth for fucks safe; when he decided to do something, he went all out. And if he could love like Darcy had seen in the past month, why couldn’t she believe that he could love her. Why couldn’t she believe that he was for real?

As it headed past 3am, Darcy was starting to feel the pain of sleepless night. She would never be able to sleep through her baby’s cries, but she felt her eyes getting droopy. Suddenly, Loki came back into the bedroom and laid Anna on the bed.

“I have an idea,” he said, his voice hard and not at all pleased. “Although I do not favor it, I suspect it might address what ails her.”

“What?” Darcy asked, crawling over to Anna on her knees and stroking her cheek. They had tried to feed her again 45 minutes ago and it didn’t work. Her diapers were dry. She was just intent on screaming. The neighbor had banged on the wall 90 minutes ago and Darcy suspected Loki had shorted their electricity because their music stopped abruptly.

She watched helplessly as her baby suffered, completely in the dark as to what bothered her. But Loki stood above her resolved. Suddenly his clothes changed from his t-shirt and jeans to his flannel pajama pants. Darcy swallowed as she looked up. And no shirt. He didn’t bother with a shirt. She resisted the urge to go gooey on the inside over it. Then, slowly and with his eyes locked on the floor, he went full Jotun.

She held herself back from gasping; she knew it was a big deal for him to do it voluntarily and she didn’t want to reinforce any negative baggage. He wouldn’t meet Darcy’s eyes as he undid the snaps on Anna’s onesie and then lifted her, clad only in her diaper, against his chest. She thrashed for less than a minute as her skin started to change and then, miraculously, she settled. She was still mewling, whimpering almost, rubbing her tired, snotty, tear stained faced against Loki’s chest, but she stopped howling. Her arms shot out on either side, one hand grasping at the side of his throat. Loki spread one large hand across her back and rocked her in his arms. “There there my darling, my little princess” he whispered into the side of her head, and Darcy heard Anna let out a stuttered, exhausted sigh. He went to stand by the window and gazed out at the street as he shifted his weight, cradling Anna against him. He slowly dragged his thumb back and forth over a line at the nape of her neck, and little by little she calmed down.

Darcy sat on the bed, watching Loki’s back, and cried big fat silent tears.

She tried not to let it bother her that this was the answer to the mystery. Her daugher was uncomfortable in her own skin. She didn’t even know what she was, she didn’t have the self doubt and internalized hate that Loki did, and she suffered nonetheless. And no one could help her but her father.

Thirty minutes later she was asleep. Lokis reverted back to his Aesir form and Anna followed with him. He silently thanked the gods when she stayed asleep, her little face smashed into the center of his chest. Her lips bowed as she took deep, even breaths. She reminded him of her mother. Whatever the crisis was had passed. He tried to put her in her cradle, but when he went to detach her from his chest, she awoke and thrashed out, searching for the heat of his body. He sat in her nursing chair and rocked her for another 30 minutes, Darcy watching silently from the bed, and then tried again. Again she woke, desperate for him. Again she slept as soon as he held her.

“What do you suggest?” he asked Darcy, who had managed to calm her tears and was looking at him like she never had before.

“Sometimes she doesn’t want to be put down,” she whispered. She started to pull the blankets back on the opposite side of the bed and got up to dim the lights, leaving only the light from the hallway illuminating the room.

“What should we do?” he asked again, unsure of how to proceed or what Darcy actions meant.

“Bring her to bed, keep her in here with us,” she said, climbing in between the sheets. She couldn’t help it; she wanted him close. She didn’t know what it meant, but she definitely wanted him and their baby in bed with her that night. She patted the bed beside her and Loki’s heart quickened when he realized that Darcy was inviting him to sleep next to her, even if the baby was in between them. He walked directly to the bedside and sat down, trying not to upset the sleeping baby on his chest. He felt Darcy’s hands on his shoulders as she helped to guide him down and not wake Anna. Then she reached down and pulled the blankets up and over them. “Do you want to keep her on your chest or put her between us?” she asked.

“Will she wake if I put her down in the bed with us?” He decided the strategy was to act as though it wasn’t a big deal that he and Darcy were going to sleep in the same bed. Although to him it was a very very big deal. A huge deal; the only sign of an advance in weeks.

“Probably not, I think she just wants the closeness. She will be warmer between us.”

“Ok, that is best. How should I…” he turned his head to receive instruction and caught Darcy staring at him. When she noticed him watching her, she sat up a bit and pulled her eyes away.

“Turn on your side, and sort of cradle her against your chest...but also put her on her back. She should always sleep on her back.” Darcy supervised as Loki held on to Anna and flipped on his side, lowering her onto the bed between them. She stirred slightly, but stayed asleep. Loki kept his body close to her, building a wall between her and the fresh air from the window. He did not want her to get cold and she was almost naked, but he didn’t dare try to dress her. He propped his arm under his head so it stuck out above Anna and Darcy leaned forward, resting her hand on the baby’s tummy and cuddling close to her on the other side. Loki could feel Darcy’s breath and it made him feel well and truly happy for the first time in ages.

 

They all must have slept a few hours, but he awoke to a dark room and a bit of rustling beside him. He peeked one eye open and saw that the baby was awake and that Darcy was positioning her to breastfeed while still lying in the bed. The baby wriggled a bit until Darcy offered her breast to her and then she settled and nursed lazily. She was still half asleep, clearly exhausted from her crying fit. And Darcy herself didn’t seem to be fully awake either. She closed her eyes and sighed, her hand lightly stroking Anna’s head and Loki took the opportunity to openly watch this beautiful scene unfold before him. He so wanted to be included in this intimacy between them.  

It occurred to him that he was still the god of mischief and he could use this to his advantage. And so he feigned restlessness in his sleep and some how wound up tucked tightly against his girls, one arm thrown over Darcy’s waist while Anna was pressed between their chests. He heard Darcy sigh and he peaked and watched Anna detach from her nipple and drift back into sleep. She turned her head towards Loki and her little hand shot out and rested on his chest. He instinctively tightened his grip around Darcy and she didn’t resist, scooting closer to him and running her hand up his arm that laid across her. In this happy little knot, they all went back to sleep.

  
  
Darcy’s body felt heavy with sleep as she rolled over. She had a sense that the bed was empty and she lifted her head, only half awake. Loki was at the end of the bed, shooshing Anna back to sleep. She was clothed and swaddled now and Darcy surmised that he must have changed her. She watched him yawn a huge tired yawn. She glanced at the clock and realized it was only 6am, they had only slept fitfully for a little over two hours, even with a feeding slipped in somewhere. Her head sank back to the pillow and she heard Loki successfully move Anna into her own bed. Darcy listened carefully for the tiny breathy sounds of her sleeping peacefully and when they were even and deep, she felt Loki move around to the other side of the bed and climb back in with her. She didn’t object when he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her tightly back against his chest, slotting his long body against hers. She felt warm and cozy and happy in his arms and without another thought to the contrary, she drifted back to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

“Loki, is that really necessary?”

“What?” Loki replied. He knew his voice was dripping with disdain, but he didn’t really care. He didn’t even bother to turn his head and look at his brother. He could hear him scarfing down hot dogs at the other end of the park bench and he had no interest in actually witnessing him inhale his food. Especially one of such a disgusting Midgardian variety.

“I know you are starved for mischief,” Thor said, picking up another hot dog from his box of six, “but I don’t think sitting in the park torturing mortals is a part of this new leaf you are trying to turn over.” Loki scowled to himself, unwilling to admit that Thor was right. Mischief, on a grand scale, would have to be part of his past. Was it better than time spent with Anna? No. Was it better than passion with Darcy? No. Well, from what he remembered, no.

But right now, he only had one of those things, so a little mischief was just what the doctor ordered. Just then a very beautiful woman walked past them and suddenly, on a calm clear spring day, a gust of wind blew up the back of her skirt revealing a barely there pair of panties. She yelped and grabbed her skirt, scurrying away from the two huge men who had clearly just witnessed the entire thing.

Loki smiled a sly, satisfied grin that very much reminded his brother of their days as teenage boys wandering the markets and darker corners of Asgard. “Good thing you daugher wasn’t here to see that,” he suggested.

“Uh,” Loki groaned, finally turning to face his brother on the bench. He knew Thor was so self righteous. “That is disgusting,” he spewed, watching in horror as Thor took a huge bite of hot dog and smeared mustard in his beard. “You’re a prince for gods’ sake. And a god for that matter.”

“Eh,” Thor shrugged, “hot dogs are a Midgardian specialty.”

“You spend too much time with the mortals,” Lokis sneared, turning back to watch people walk past the fountain, oblvious to so much else around them.

“You spend all your time with two mortals,” Thor replied.

“One and a half,” Loki, corrected. “Anna is only half mortal.”

Thor smiled. He knew how much Loki was enjoying being a father. You couldn’t see it now because he was in a foul mood, but everytime Thor was at their apartment it was clear to see that Loki was completely besotted with his baby. And his baby mamma. Loki, to Thor's unyielding amazement, was changing.

“So,” Thor said, crumpling up a wad of dirty napkins and tossing them in his now empty hot dog box, “how goes the making amends project?”

Loki sighed and gazed out at the mortals. A man walking by, fully immersed in his phone, suddenly found it flying out of his hand and landing in a puddle. Thor rolled his eyes. “I would say,” Loki finally relented, “that the project has stalled.”

“How so?” Thor narrowed his eyes. They seemed better to him. Darcy wasn’t shooting Loki death stares anymore, they had some kind of rhythm with the baby and the domestic chores of the home. They seemed comfortable around him.

“Two weeks ago Anna started to have crying fits at night.”

“Yes, you mentioned. She’s been unwell.”

Thor watched, concerned, as Loki’s face completely changed. He almost looked scared. “I do not know what is wrong with her. She is fine during the day and then at night she cries and cries. The first few nights I was able to sooth her by helping her into her Jotun form, but now it is no longer working.”

“What does Darcy think?”

“Darcy thinks she is a baby and this is something babies do. She is not wrong, the baby books say the same thing. Darcy also thinks that now her schedule is interrupted and it has made everything off kilter.”

“Ok…” Thor knew nothing about babies. He could be off no help. “Have you asked Banner?”

“He says there is nothing wrong with her as far as he can tell. She is eating, she takes her naps, she is playing. She is alert. He says she may just be having a growth spurt or even getting ready for one and her ‘body clock’ is out of whack.” Loki rolled his eyes. He had respect for the green hulk doctor, but ‘body clock’ was some kind of superstitious nonsense.

“So why has this stalled the amends making?” Thor pressed. A man walking by with a dog on a leash suddenly found his dog off the leash and leaping into the fountain. Thor shook his head tiredly. “Loki, enough.”

Loki huffed and crossed his arms. “The result of this suffering is that Darcy has let me into her bed.”

“That’s not stalled at all!” Thor exclaimed, immediately wondering why his brother was so testy if he was once again allowed access to his lover.

“For sleeping. For sleeping only.”

“Ah.” Thor sympathized. He and Loki, as princes of Asgard, were not used to being denied by women. But he too had spent several nights staring at the ceiling. Jane had a tendency to work overnight and then come home exhausted and fall into a deep sleep. It sometimes interrupted their coupling. “And it is difficult to...only sleep...next to Darcy?”

“It is extremely difficult,” Loki growled, clenching and unclenching his fists. The only thing that kept him from going mad was the baby. “But,” he continued, “it is not just the lack of physical affection. I feel as though Darcy is pushing me away again.”

“What do you mean?”

Loki sat back on the bench and sighed. He was not used to discussing his feelings with anyone, especially his brother. They discussed some things, but not Loki’s heart. That was part of why their difficulties had arisen in the first place. “I told her,” he said quietly, “some weeks ago, that I loved her.”

Thor’s eyebrows shot up. This was a big deal for Loki and an even bigger deal for him to admit it to Thor. “And?”

“And she reciprocated.”

Thor was confused. “And?” he prompted his brother.

“And she said she doesn’t trust me.”

Thor sighed. That was the crux of it and would remain so until Loki could prove himself. “But she let you back into the bed?” he asked, suddenly realizing the confusion.

“Yes. The signals are ‘mixed’ as the Midgardians say.”

“Ah.”

“I think, after the first night of Anna’s pains, Darcy was unnerved by her decision to resume our co-sleeping. It happened quite accidentally, I suppose, in response to the crisis with the baby. In the morning she was quite distant with me and Anna was groggy and lethargic and she focused all her attention on her and ignored me. She did not acknowledge our first sustained period of physical contact in over a year.” Loki crossed his arms in frustration. He wouldn’t admit it, but it felt better to talk about this with his brother. It had been torturing him and his mind was obsessed. He hadn’t even focused on the stone for over three weeks. Although, he remembered he did have one piece of news to share with Thor.

“So she is not distant then?” Thor questioned.

“She let’s me hold her. She wants comfort at night and then she is on the opposite end of the apartment all day. I do not understand.”

Thor smiled. “Do you know what the archer says?”

“What?” Loki spit, not at all interested in the fools his brother called friends.

Thor smiled at him and then shrugged his shoulders. “Women,” he said simply.

They sat in silence for a period until Thor could see Jane and Darcy approaching from the opposite end of the plaza. They were deep in conversation, Jane clearly counseling Darcy, who seemed to be pushing the baby carriage as slowly as possible. Their plan to spend the first warm day of spring together at the park had been interrupted when Jane and Darcy went off to ‘find the bathroom’ and then texted to inform that they would not be back for an hour or so. They would ‘get coffee’ and meet them by the fountain. Thor convinced Loki that this was merely female code for the time women spent gossiping.

So, Thor tried to do the same with his brother. They didn’t often get time to discuss their mutual interests, especially since Thor was supposed to be angry with Loki. He suspected that Jane knew he had forgiven his brother and simply chose not to press the issue.

“They are almost returned,” Thor announced, standing up and waving at Jane. She waved back and he watched as their pace slowed even more. “They are delaying their arrival.”

“I’m sure they are discussing whether or not Darcy should forgive me,” Loki sighed, standing as well. “It has been almost two months and she still has not asked about my absence. It is no longer convenient, it is an impediment to progress. Perhaps I should just tell her the truth.”

“What would you say? Have you advanced with the stone?” Thor asked. He was anxious for progress on this front. Time was also a shadow on his relationship with Jane. Would they marry? Have children? Would she come to Asgard? If she was going to die in sixty years, what would they do now? What if she lived?

“No,” Loki said, turning towards Thor to whisper, “but something strange has happened without my intervention. I do not know what it means.”

“What?”

“I have kept the stone hidden with a spell that obscures things. I have hidden a number of things in Darcy’s apartment with the spell. It does not displace them as much as make them invisible and permeable, so they cannot be seen or touched. I confess, it is such a simple spell I always assumed it was simply an illusion.”

“And?” Thor pressed harder. The women were approaching quicker now.

“Something happened the last time I uncovered the stone. I laid the bundle out on the kitchen table, and as I unwrapped it from the cloth the pieces almost hung together for a few seconds, as if they wanted to stick to one another, before they collapsed into a pile.”

“That is very strange,” Thor frowned. “Are you sure you did not imagine it?”

“No, it was as if they were magnets, attracting and repelling each other, suspended in air. I cannot explain it.”

Thor was silent, considering the possibilities. He could not pretend to be able to approach this from the depths that Loki could. And he was troubled that his brother was perplexed, but he could think of one possible avenue for a solution. “Will you visit mother?” he asked, eyeing Darcy and the stroller from afar.

“Uh,” Loki groaned, waving his hand at his brother, “I cannot go to her without bringing the baby. I will never hear the end of it. And Darcy will not allow me to use magic on Anna. That includes the Bifrost.”

“Do you wish me to ask her to come?”

Loki’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. Invite his mother to visit his new family who were, technically, not ‘formal’ in the family sense? And how would Darcy feel about having his mother in her modest apartment? “That might be too much,” he murmured.

“Or it might help,” Thor smiled.

 

For weeks Loki had been feeling his irritation at their domestic situation grow. For the last two months he had resolved not to fight with Darcy, to take any abuse she needed to give him, to bare the brunt of the anger and hurt that he had caused. It was only right. But he was frustrated. They took two steps forward and one step back. Sometimes three steps back. Darcy seemed to be willing herself not to let him in, to keep him at arm’s length. It was almost as if she did not want to repair their relationship and build their family.

By the time Darcy and Jane returned from their sojourn, Loki was ready to go home and sulk or perhaps play with his daugher and let her distract him from his own longings. But Anna was asleep and according to Darcy, she had been asleep for almost an hour. Loki frowned; she was off her schedule. So Thor happily suggested they stroll the park, and Loki begrundgingly agreed. He hung back from the group, pondering his current predicament and the possibilities of his future. He was not feeling up to small talk.

Darcy sensed he was out of sorts; in fact she knew that he was growing tired of her indecision, but she didn’t really care. She wasn’t trying to torture him, but after their first night back together in bed she felt as if things had moved too quickly. They couldn’t be easily resolved and she wouldn’t rush herself. If she wasn’t sure it would just delay the inevitable pain of separating.

So she didn’t push him or reach out to him all afternoon. She let him trail behind them in silence, and he didn’t object to any of Thor’s plans for the afternoon. By the time they got home three hours later, Anna was still asleep and both of her parents were on edge.

“How long has she been asleep now?” Loki asked as he quietly pushed the stroller over the threshold of the apartment.

“Four hours,” Darcy murmured. She watched as Loki pulled back Anna’s blankets and lifted her from the pod. She was dead to the world. “Do you think she’s ok?”

“I think she is making up for the last few nights,” he murmured, eyeing her closely. “She seems fine.” He went to take her to her room and Darcy set about making a pot of coffee. As she measured the grounds, she felt the shooting tingles in her breasts start to change into an all out ache. She had read about this in the book, but she had never experienced the painful, pressured need to feed her baby. It was past time for Anna to wake up and nurse and Darcy didn’t know what to make of it. Should she wake her up? Let her sleep?

Loki came back into the kitchen and interrupted her. “I believe,” he said with some authority in his voice, “that she may be transitioning to a longer sleeping schedule and more time in between feedings. It will take you both time to adjust.”

“Oh will it?” Darcy asked, her voice thinly laced with sarcasm.

“Yes,” he replied, digging through the cabinet for his favorite cookies to have with coffee and clearly not picking up on the growing hostility in the room. “In chapter eight of the baby book, both the 2002 and the 2012 editions, it discusses periods of transition in the baby’s schedule and the upset it will bring to the bonded nursing relationship. We may need to consider some sort of partial weaning, at least temporarily.”

“We?” Darcy mouthed to herself. She was trying not to get irrationally angry but for some reason he was seriously pissing her off. “I know,” she replied, “I’ve read the books. And I’m not weaning her. I want to feed her for at least a year.”

“If you’ve read the books,” he continued, willfully ignoring the shifting climate in the room, “then you know that you may not be able to keep her tied to you in this way. It may not even be good for her.”

Darcy glared at him. “No, it is fine. Breast is best. She's not old enough.”

“I am not suggesting that we feed her chemical formula…”

“You are suggesting I move her onto bottles so that we can manage a changing schedule with more flexibility.”

“Yes,” he smiled, “exactly.”

“And I’m telling you that I have managed every change and every moment so far with more flexibility that you’ve got in your little finger and I don’t need you to tell me how to feed my baby.” Darcy turned her back on him and dug through the fridge for a snack. She couldn’t believe that he felt like he could waltz in and make these kinds of suggestions, as if weaning Anna was just a thing that could be easily decided and done.

He didn’t respond to her. His focus had shifted to Anna’s well being and clearly he had touched a nerve. He cleared his throat and they moved around each other in silence for a minute before settling at the table with coffee and snacks and thinly veiled anger blooming between them.

“I am simply trying to raise a discussion about how to address her growth,” he said quietly, stirring sugar into his coffee carefully. Darcy only shrugged, not willing to listen. She was on the verge of retreating to her room, but then he suddenly changed tack.

“I am considering that perhaps we should invite my mother to visit.”

“What?” she practically screeched in reply. They were arguing about what to do with the baby and his response to her position was to call in his mother? “That’s low Loki, she’s my baby.”

“I...no Darcy…” he stuttered, suddenly realizing what his unelegent and jumbled transition had done. “I am not suggesting that she come to tell you…”

“I don’t need you or your mother to tell me what to do, let’s be clear about that.” Her voice had turned icy and she wouldn’t look at him. And Loki, well passed his own point of tolerance, had enough.

“I am her father Darcy, I am allowed to have an opinion. And if you would let me have a bit more access...”

“To what?” Darcy said, leaning across the table, “to her? You spend almost every waking moment with her. I’ve let you have as much time as you like. It isn’t like I let you see her every other weekend; you live here. You’re always here!”

“Yes,” he replied, finding it difficult to control the temper in his voice, “because we are a family.”

“Not yet we aren’t,” Darcy replied, jumping to her feet. Her breasts were starting to throb, almost as if she could feel her heart beating through them. And she felt flushed and furious and hurt and desperate. She couldn’t get close to him, she couldn’t get away from him, and she couldn’t get over it. She could hear him arguing behind her, something about how he was trying, how he was supportive, how she let him into her bed and pushed him away. She vaguely heard him say something about ‘mixed signals,’ but she couldn’t even focus. Her clothes felt tight and her chest was heavy. She kept her back to him until he couldn’t take her coldness any longer and he pulled on her elbow, trying to get her attention.

“Why are you shifting about so much?” he asked, clearly frustrated. “I am trying to have a discussion with you and I don’t think you are paying attention.”

“I’m sorry!” Darcy exclaimed, “but my boobs are killing me. She’s never slept this long or gone this long without eating. I feel like they are going to explode.”

“I’m sorry you are uncomfortable. Would you like me to do something about it?”

“No!” she hissed, “no magic. No magic on her, no magic on me.”

Loki scowled. “It isn’t poisonous.”

“You don’t know that.”

His face darkened and he rounded on her, his tall frame looming over her. She didn’t feel scared, but she suddenly felt him as a real person with real feelings. But she was too far gone to care. “Do you think I am poisonous?” he asked. “My magic and I are one and the same.”

She rolled her eyes carelessly. “If I thought you were poisonous do you think I would let you near my baby?”

“She’s my baby too.”

“Only recently.” The second she said it she knew she meant it. She was still angry, she still resented him leaving and she hadn’t really allowed anything to be fixed. They were just playing along.

Loki turned towards the kitchen counter, trying to keep his temper under control. Darcy could be so...insolent. He knew he shouldn’t use that word and he knew his situation was precarious. What if she got so angry she banished him back to the couch or worse yet threw him out? Would he only be able to be with Anna in the middle of the night and he would have to be invisible? It would not stand. He had to keep peace with Darcy for the sake of the baby but he wanted it for himself as well. He wanted her to want him.

When he turned back around, Darcy had her arms crossed over her chest and her face had flushed a deep red. “What is wrong?” he asked sharply, immediately regretting his irritated tone.

“Nothing,” she mumbled. “Leave me alone.”

“Darcy, I want you to tell me if you are unwell. It is important.”

“I’m not unwell,” she spit, “I’m overflowing!” She flung her arms open and Loki’s eyes went wide at the wet spot forming on her t-shift. Her right breast was leaking and she was humiliated.

“It is quite natural,” he said. “I read it in the baby book.”

“Of course you did!” she yelled. “You remember every fucking thing you read in the baby book!”

“Keep your voice down!” he hissed. But just then they heard her over the baby monitor and Darcy would have felt terrible for her outburst, except that was Anna’s hungry cry. Not just a hungry cry, a starving famished suffering cry.

“Oh thank god!” Darcy exclaimed, taking off to the bedroom. Loki was at her heels and as she collected Anna from her bed, she looked around for her nursing pillow and could not see it. “Shit” she hissed, realizing that she couldn’t do this as quickly as she’d hoped. But just then he came into the bedroom with her pillow.

“She spit up on it this morning. I have cleaned it.”

“Oh, right, thanks,” Dary mumbled. She walked towards him, crowding him out of the bedroom and moved to close the door in his face.

“But...I wish to stay!” he stammered.

“No!” she yelped, immediately regretting the tone in her voice. He visibly flinched before turning on his heel and storming down the hallway. Darcy groaned, her breasts practically bursting and Anna getting more desperate by the second.

Despite her better judgement, she followed Loki back out into the living room, ignoring Anna’s wails to address her moody baby daddy. He was slouched on the couch, arms crossed, clearly put out.

“Loki…” she started.

“No, I understand,” he said swiftly. “I am not welcome. That is between you and Anna.”

“No, that’s...I guess I...” Darcy sighed. She didn’t really know what her problem was. She wasn’t embarrassed about him seeing or anything. She’d even given him the full show on the night he re-appeared, although mostly because she was too flustered to care. “I don’t know,” she mumbled.

“I do not want to intrude more than is necessary,” he continued.

Darcy took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind through the pain and the crying baby and the deep hurt. He was Anna’s father. He wasn’t intruding. In some way, he was sort of entitled. She didn’t want to admit it, but she had been selfish. This was the only part of Anna that she got to keep to herself and she didn’t want to share it with him. But it wasn’t good for the baby, she needed that connection to Loki too.

“Ok,” she said, screwing up her courage, “sit on the floor. And spread your legs.”

“What?” Loki asked, confused and still clearly upset.

“You heard me and do it quickly before I change my mind.”

He slid off the couch immediately, leaning back against the furniture and spread his legs as wide as he could. He looked ridiculous, but Darcy walked in between then, turned around, and sat down, leaning her back into his chest. By this point, her breasts hurt so badly her eyes were watering and she really just needed Anna to eat. Her cries were driving her insane.

Loki tried not to let his shock show when Darcy started to unbutton her shirt and position the baby to feed. She was going to do it not only in front of him, but in his lap. She was giving him permission to participate, to watch, to enjoy it. He wrapped his arms around Darcy’s waist as she settled back into his chest, getting comfortable. Anna let out a frustrated little grunt as she rutted around for her meal and when everyone was finally settled, Darcy let her head drop back to rest on Loki’s shoulder and she let out a whimper as the ache finally started to abate. Loki leaned forward, watching Anna nurse, and Darcy’s head lolled into him, her face turning into his neck and moaning in relief. He tightened his arms around her and he felt her relax further into his embrace. “It’s all right now my darlings,” he whispered, his lips ghosting over Darcy’s hair. He rested his head against hers, reveling in the feeling of Darcy’s breath against his skin. Anna looked up at him and she seemed, for the first time, to really recognize him. As if she didn’t expect to see him but there he was. She reached her hand out towards him and he offered her his finger to hold. She grabbed it tightly and brought it down to rest on Darcy’s breast, her favorite thing to hold onto while she nursed. Everything went silent for the first time all afternoon and they were left to the simple pleasure of their little family. Loki felt, for the first time in his life, as if everything was as it should be. This moment was how it was supposed to be; the love of his life in his arms, their baby happy and content.

But the moment was short lived. After only a few minutes he felt something wet dripping down his neck and he felt Darcy start to shake in his arms. His arms instinctively tightened around her, trying to rock her and sooth her. But she wouldn’t let him. She turned her head away from his embrace, laying her cheek against his shoulder.

And then she said it, her voice so whispered and hoarse it sounded like she’d been crying for days, months even. “Loki,” she whispered, as he felt the weight of her sorrow settle in the pit of his stomach. “Why did you leave me?” 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moment of truth!

They were both quiet for a long time until Darcy’s tears eventually subsided. Finally, Loki let out a deep breath and dropped his head back on the cushion of the couch. “I want to tell you the truth,” he murmured.

“Then you should” Darcy replied, wiping away tears with her free hand. Anna was starting to lose focus, more gumming on Darcy than actually suckling, and she suspected she was done. She sat up, pulling away from Loki, and detached Anna from her breast. Both Loki and the baby protested a bit, but Darcy just smiled and shushed her. “It isn’t good manners to play with your food,” she said, making a silly face at her daughter. She pretended not to notice his reluctance to drop his arms from around her waist. Now that she had said she wanted to know and she knew she was going to hear it, she felt some kind of weight easing off of her. They had been living under the burden of this revelation for two months. Now that the time had finally arrived, it felt right. She was ready to know, whatever it was and whatever it meant. She wondered briefly if that meant she was ready to forgive.

“Can you burp her please,” Darcy said, twisting around in his lap to pass the baby to Loki. She watched as he frowned. This was one thing he hadn’t done yet. She threw a cloth over his shoulder and moved to stand. “Just pat her on the back until she burps.”

Darcy left them to it and headed to the bathroom. She needed to splash her face and blow her nose; a good cry always left her in such a state. She had never been a crier before she got pregnant and now it hardly took anything at all. That wasn’t true, she corrected herself, she only ever cried over one thing: him.

She returned to the living room to now see Loki on the couch, still bouncing and patting Anna and making a face.

“She reminds me of my brother,” he muttered, his voice clearly irritated.

“Did she belch in your ear?” Darcy smiled.

“Twice.”

“That’s my girl. Or, more accurately, that’s your girl.” Loki couldn’t help smiling at that sentiment as he watched Darcy set up Anna’s play gym on the floor. “You know you can be just as gross as your brother when it comes to eating.”

“That is not true,” said Loki indignantly. “Everything I do befits my status as a prince, whereas Thor once ate an entire pig in twenty minutes, bedded a serving wench in the pantry, and passed out in the bushes of mother’s garden.”

Darcy turned around to look at him. “Everything?” she asked, and Loki could tell if this was a sexy tease or a guilty taunt.

“Almost everything,” he corrected, pulling Anna away from his shoulder to inspect her readiness to play. He found her smiley and wiggly. “I have my moments,” he shrugged. He moved to place Anna in her gym and tugged on her favorite musical charm. “There darling, play with the sea creatures while your parents talk about their future.”

“I thought we were discussing the past,” Darcy said, already stationed at the far end of the couch. She had a pillow clenched in her lap, clearly indicating that she was not interested in continuing the very promising cuddling they had enjoyed on the floor.

“Yes,” said Loki, straightening his shirt “but the two are quite intertwined.” He paused for a minute, trying to muster some dignity to steer him through the groveling that was about to take place. Darcy frowned as he began to pace and she really wasn’t in the mood for some roundabout story. She just wanted to hear it. Finally he stopped and stood in front of her. “My decision to leave, Darcy, was not made lightly…”

“Loki, just out with it,” she sighed. “Enough build up already. Why did you go?”

“Technically?” he hummed, shifting his gaze anywhere but at her.

“Yes.”

She watched his eyes roll towards the ceiling and he leaned back a bit from his power stance. “To find a magic relic that controls time.”

Darcy closed her eyes. That was what she didn’t want to hear. She didn’t want to hear that she had been cast off for his toys and spells and mischief. She felt the tears start to pool and turned away, trying to control her reaction, when suddenly he was on his knees in front of her.

“Precisely one month before I abandoned you, we had a fight because a smiling tit of a SHIELD agent propositioned you in the hallway.”

She tried not to take any hope from his admission, and apparent awareness, that he had ‘abandoned’ her. He had done that; he hadn’t even had the courage to tell her he wanted out. “I remember,” Darcy mumbled tearily. “You made it quite clear how you felt about it.”

“No I did not,” Loki sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I realized, during our argument, that I was mercilessly in love with you.”

Her eyes flew to his face and it broke his heart to watch two tears fall, caught suddenly by her quickness. They escaped before she could stop them. “Mercilessly?” she whispered. It sounded awful.

“Yes, Darcy,” he said quietly, resting his hands on her knees and giving her a gentle squeeze. “There is no mercy in loving a mortal for me. To love you is the greatest pleasure of my many years, save our daughter, but at the time it was a painful, devastating realization.” He swallowed hard, trying to control the crack in his voice. “You are doing to die. And I am not, at least not for a very long time.”

“I know.” She couldn’t seem to break her voice above a whisper or else all the tears and all the sadness would just pour out.

“I did not want to love you,” he continued. “I wanted to enjoy you, to pleasure you. But I did not want to only feel alive or worth something because you needed me, wanted me. I did not want to feel happiness only when you were happy or pleasure only because we shared it. I felt more fear from your fear than I have ever felt before. I thought it would destroy me.”

He stalled at the confusion that crossed her beautiful features. She always stopped his heart. “Because you thought you were weak?” she asked.

“No, I knew I was. The minute I succumbed to carnal pleasure with you, I knew I was weak. It destroyed me because I would lose you and our time would be so brief and when you were gone I would face another four thousand years without you.” Loki stopped for a minute and reached for her hands; he was starting to feel a painful, sharp pressure in his chest. It was something he had only ever felt in anger before, not in sadness or in love. He knew he was on the verge of losing himself in the swirling sea of emotions that Darcy evoked.

He sat quietly for a moment, trying to control himself, until he felt her grip on his hands ever so subtly squeeze back. “So I went to my mother and begged. I begged her to make it stop, to give me some magic that would separate us, that would erase me from your mind, and you from mine. But I think she knew that you were already pregnant. She said that things were done that could not be undone.”

He looked up at her face, so earnest and intent, and he decided to press on. He would just get it all out. “So I asked her to convince the Allfather to give you the apples, you and Jane. And she tried, but Odin is a fearful, bigoted man. He would like to believe that all my hate and wrath came from my Jotun parentage, but the truth is I learned it all from him. Mortals, to him, are no more than livestock, cute and sometimes useful, but ultimately, animals in the yard.”

He suddenly felt propelled off the floor and onto the couch next to her. He pulled her into his arms and held her as close as he could and still be able to see her face “As I waited to hear his judgement I savored every moment with you. Do you remember those nights, how we made love over and over until we couldn’t keep our eyes open?” Darcy shivered in his arms because she did remember; he drove her crazy then. Loki narrowed his eyes because he felt her reaction and he decided to push it. He leaned closer till their foreheads almost touch. “Do you remember how I endeavored to make you cum so many times you could barely breath?” he rasped. Darcy simply nodded. “If he decided against us, my love, and against Thor and Jane, then I wanted to fill up my senses with you before you were taken away.”

He swallowed hard because now the story turned into rougher waters. “I was prepared to go through with it. To love you to death. I had a plan that I could age myself magically so you would have someone to grow old with and I would simply outlive you and then return to Asgard and either live out my days in silence or plead for entrance to Valhalla.” He heard a sniffle and he knew, once again, that the tears had begun. He felt his might start as well.

So he pulled back, holding onto her shoulders and looking in her eyes so she would understand. “But mother summoned me and informed me otherwise. Odin said no, as we expected, but she believed there might be another way. There are things in the universe, Darcy, that possess more magic than any life form could ever hope to control. We can only conduct their power and they take their toll. The tesseract is one and it drove me mad. And truly, only your love saved me from the scarring of it in the end.”

He fell silent for a moment and his glance flicked quickly to Anna on the floor. She was blissfully unaware of the momentous happening on the couch a few feet away. She was much more interested in the octopus hanging above her face. But no matter how simple and mundane the scene was, Loki felt the how much truly was at stake in his impetuous decision and even more unsure gamble. If he could not master the stone, all of this would have been for not. If he could not convince Darcy to forgive him, what good was having the stone. He was ready to admit that for the first time, in his thousand years, he truly felt calm and happy. He had ceased to desire anything but the love of the two mortals with him in that moment. He sighed and turned back to Darcy.

“I am hoping you can save me twice,” he said finally, drawing his long exposition to a close.

Darcy shook her head, taking in all he had said, before she wiped her cheeks dry. “What do you mean?” she asked, her voice scared and annoyed at the same time.

Loki shrank back, well aware of what he was about to suggest. “There is a stone, my darling, that controls time. It allows its wielder to control the past, present, and future. To grant long life and take life away; to speed up time and slow it down.”

Darcy smirked. “You really shouldn’t fuck with something like that,” she muttered.

“It is real Darcy,” he said simply. “I’ve had it with me since I returned.” Darcy visible jumped as a small bundle appeared in her lap. She shot him an uncertain look before pulling back the plain cloth to reveal nine shards of pinkish orange stone, some how holding themselves close to one another as if they longed to be reunited. “It is the only way,” he murmured.

“For what?” she whispered, the reality of what he was proposing starting to wash over her.

“For us to be together. Forever. Well, my forever.”

Her response was not what he had hoped. She stared at him blankly, blinking a few times. Finally, she opened her mouth to speak. “You left me to go find a magic stone that would make me live for another four thousand years?” she asked, speaking as if the words didn’t make sense in her own ears.

“Yes,” he nodded, “but it was in pieces and I had to go a long way, across all nine realms. I looked very hard. It took...approximately a year in your time. And my mother bade me on, she felt very strongly it was the only hope."

Very slowly Darcy re-wrapped the bundle of rocks and put it in Loki’s waiting hand. Then she turned away from him and sat on the couch staring into the living room. Loki waited silently, completely terrified at her impending reaction. He had no idea what to expect, but he got a hint when she banged her hands on the cushions and shot up like the fabric burned her. “God damn it Loki!” she cried.

He could see in her face that she was about to start yelling, but then her eyes darted to Anna and she took a deep breath. Darcy was not the same woman he left a year ago. She had changed and grown as a mother, becoming more uniquely her and more mature. It didn’t make him want her any less. If anything he wanted her more.

“I take it you are angry,” he said dryly, slumping back into the couch. It was now time to give up on the fantasy that the telling of this story would result in a lot of kisses.

“Did you think I’d swoon?” she hissed. He shrugged his shoulders and Darcy rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you,” she groaned, “you have a whole other world spinning in your head that has nothing to do with the realms where everyone else lives.”

Loki sat up, ready to defend himself, but he had to admit she was right. He had created several romantic scenarios over this arduous period which excused his bad behaviour and each had been wildly inaccurate. His brother had accused him of this once; anything to avoid the implications of his selfish behaviour.

When he didn’t retaliate, Darcy took it as a sign that she could keep rolling. It was her turn to pace, trying to sort through everything he had just revealed. He wanted her for the rest of his life, not just hers. “Ok, why am I angry?” she said, partly to herself. That was easy enough to answer. She turned to him and held up her finger. “Number one: lies, lies lies. You had a month to chew on that whole saga before you left. You could have told me at any point. You didn’t need to go sneaking off on some big secret mission.”

Loki smiled like a kid caught with his hand in the cookies jar. “I wanted to surprise you and be...romantic.”

“Romantic?” Darcy roared. “No fucking way! Drama! You’re a fucking drama queen. You thrive on that shit.”

Again he opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything. She knew she was right.

“And you didn’t need the dramatic entry and exit because the idea itself is dramatic enough. So, reason number two: it was pretty god damn presumptuous of you to think I was just going go along with it. You hadn’t even told me you loved me.”

“But you love me,” he said, as if it was an unwavering, unchanging truth. As if no one ever fell out love.

“I do, but I didn’t know you loved me. If someone barebacked you for six months and then disappeared for a year, leaving you with a baby, and then showed up and said yeah, let’s spend four thousand years together, what would you say?”

“If it was you, I would have said yes.”

“But I would never do that to you Loki because you never gave me any indication that you gave a shit about me beyond sex!”

“I told you I would always have you.”

“Yeah, in a sexy ‘I’m going to rip your panties off with my teeth’ kind of way. Not a ‘I’ll love you forever, you’re my whole world’ kind of way.”

“Well by the time I said it I had already climaxed and was effectively done ripping your panties off so the only logical conclusion would have been that it was said out of love.”

“You were only done for twenty minutes.”

“True.” Loki thought for a second. “Just to clarify Darcy,” he said swiftly, “you are half of my world, Anna is the other, and I will love you forever, but I would also like to rip your panties off with my teeth.” He let out a deep exhale and stared her down. “And this point, I would rip everything off if you’d let me.”

“Don’t distract me,” she shouted, glaring at him. Immediately, he knew they weren’t really fighting. She just had to come around to it. He just had to wait it out; fortunately, he was good at waiting.

“Would you have said no?” he asked simply.

“Then? Maybe. Now? Probably not. But that’s not the point.”

“The point is that I should not have presumed,” he said, affirming her anger.

“Right, you can’t just have something because you want it. That’s been your problem since day one.”

Loki dropped his head and bit back the defensiveness. That one stung, but he had worked hard to come to terms with his choices that had led him to being on Midgard in the first place. He knew he still had much to make up for and he had compounded the problem by letting the same stupid drive lead him on a path away from Darcy. As much as it was painful to be reminded of his mistakes, he felt a warmth go through him at the thought that Darcy knew all of this and yet, she still loved him. She didn’t love him despite his faults; she saw more than just the mistakes he made.

Darcy was still pacing. He could see she had cooled the tiniest bit. “But that’s not what I want to talk about,” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. “Let’s talk about this crazy plan. Number three: what makes you think it’ll be different this time. That you won’t go all bat shit evil again?”

Darcy felt a chill go down her spine at the look on his face; he actually looked apprehensive and a bit afraid. Loki was lots of things, but almost never afraid (except of her) and she had grown to count on that.

“I do not,” he replied, his voice growing a bit thin. “I do not know how to use it and I have not even mended it yet. I will have to rely on those around me to assist me in discovering how to use it.”

“So, wait and see?” Darcy said, crossing her arms and clearly frustrated.

“Um, yes.” Loki shifted uncomfortably on the couch. He didn’t really like that Darcy could so easily see the holes in his plans. “I will admit that I did not think through every element of this plan before I left. I was desperate.”

Darcy through her hands up again in exasperation. “That brings me around to point number four mr. god of mischief, chaos, and lies: how are you and I supposed to be a couple if you don’t talk to me about anything going on inside your head?”

“I am trying,” he gritted out through clenched teeth. She couldn’t expect everything to change instantly as if he had some kind of...magic. Wait, he did.

“I just don’t understand Loki,” she groaned, “why everything has to be so complicated all the time! If you were running around all the realms looking for shards of a rock, why couldn’t you have stopped by this one, even for a second, and checked up on me? And why didn’t you tell your brother? He was fucking wreck the whole time you were gone! And why did you just try to blame all that on your mother. Nut up and take responsibility for your stupid ass decisions.”

“Perhaps I am not good enough for you,” he said defensively, finally succumbing to his more base instincts.

“Don’t even try that shit!” she screeched. “I already said I love you and I’m not going anywhere, but I’m entitled to be angry about your shitty choices that have implications in my life. And by the way, one of the things that pisses me off the most is that this is the most amazing romantic thing anyone has ever done for me and you fucked it all up so I can’t even appreciate it!”

There was nothing he could say except what he had said a thousand times it seemed. “I’m sorry,” he said, as earnestly as he could, although he realized that it was starting to sound a bit stale, even to him. Darcy could only growl in frustration and turn away from him, stomping to the back of the apartment.

Loki sighed as the sound of the door slamming echoed through the apartment. Anna’s eyebrows shot up, her face full of shock and then her bottom lip began to tremble and she wailed. Darcy immediately ran back out of the room, scooping the baby up, and shot Loki one last dirty look before shepherding Anna back into her room and slamming the door all over again.

Loki sighed again. What more could he do? He reached for Darcy’s cell phone and touched it until he found his brother’s name.

“Thor,” he said, tiredly, “I have told Darcy the truth. You should inform Jane of our plot.”


	11. Chapter 11

In the morning, Darcy found him slouched on the couch, his long legs jutting out at a wide set angle and his head thrown back over the edge of the couch. His eyes were closed. He looked tired still.

“Did you sleep?” she called from the end of the hall. His eyes opened and he turned to look at her. There she was in her nightgown and robe, hair messy, eyes a bit puffy from restless sleep, and Anna alert in her arms.

“A bit,” he murmured, watching as she slipped Anna into her swing in the corner and handed her a few fuzzy toys to play with. Then she did something he did not expect. She came to him on the couch, tucking her feet underneath her and settling into his side. She put her head on his shoulder and her arm around his waist. And then she let out a sigh.

“Me too,” she murmured, nuzzling her face closer into him as if she was looking for something. Immediately he let his arm come around her and held her close and she sighed. Had she missed him? Even though it had only been a few weeks since she’d let him into her bed, Loki had become very accustomed to sleeping next to her. And in a full size bed. The return to the couch was most unwelcome.

“Yesterday was hard,” she said and Loki nodded in response. Much had happened in that long day; it was hard to believe that they had fought twice in one day after keeping so much closed down between them. He felt her grip on him tighten and it both eased his worry and stoked the ache inside him. He wished he could just be comforted by Darcy’s touch, but they were beyond that point now. His need for her burned hotter every day.

“I’m sorry I kicked you out last night. I know it feels like I’m giving you mixed signals, but it’s only because I feel mixed up.”

“I understand,” he sighed, as much as he did not want to. “I know I have made it difficult to know how you feel.”

He felt her shake her head against him. “I know how I feel,” she said, her voice firm, “it is just that I feel different things at the same time. I love you, I’m angry with you…”

“And you are scared that I will leave you again.”

He felt more than heard her reply. He brought his other arm to hold her and pulled her half into his lap. She came willingly, holding him tight and he could feel so much of her fear, past and present, in the way she clung to him. All he could do was hold her and whisper that he would never leave her again and he would never lie. He promised.

“What more can I do Darcy?” he whispered, stroking her hair and trying to find places to put his hands that wouldn’t cross the line.

“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” she sighed. “Obviously it is working. Little by little.” He nodded again and hugged her tighter, feeling a bit more satisfied as he heard her hum near his ear. “And no more nights on the couch,” she murmured, nuzzling into his neck, “I promise.”

They stayed huddled on the couch until Darcy’s stomach growled and she reluctantly pulled herself away to go make some breakfast. Loki floated behind her in the kitchen, holding Anna and bouncing her in his lap while Darcy made some oatmeal.

“What do you want to do today?” he asked as she gave him a heaping bowl of his favorite oats with fruit.

“Stay home, stay on the couch, just be quiet,” she said. Loki smiled; a day spent cuddling on the couch with Darcy was all he wanted as well. “Although,” she sighed, “we do have one task. Either we have to go out…”

“Or?” he asked, trying to keep his spoon from Anna’s eager grasp. She grunted in frustration and Darcy handed her another to bang against the table.

She eyed them both, her baby and her...whatever he was...eating breakfast at the table. She knew what the next step was for all of them. “Or can you conjure a breast pump?

 

“What is this medieval device?” Loki leaned forward over Darcy’s shoulder and narrowed his eyes at the computer screen.

“You use it to express breast milk,” Darcy said, showing him another website full of images of breast pumps. Loki recoiled at the image of a woman hooked up to a machine. “I don’t want that kind, I want the hand pump kind. It seems more civilized.”

“It does,” Loki murmured, clicking to another page and examining the schematics of the device. “You are not a cow and this is not a dairy factory. Why are we investigating this machine?”

“Because it is the only way to get breast milk into a bottle.”

“And why are we putting breast milk in bottles?” Darcy smiled. His attention was focused on understanding what he had to conjure out of nothing.

“Because they you can feed Anna.” Loki stood up straight and looked confused. That was not exactly what he had requested.

“I quite liked yesterday’s arrangement,” he said.

“Oh course you did,” Darcy smiled, “it was nice, until I started crying, and you got to be close to my boobs.”

“That was very nice,” he smiled in return.

“It is more important that you feed her. It will help you bond in another way.”

“But I thought you didn’t want to wean her.”

“This isn’t technically weaning; she still drinking breast milk and she still going to be on the breast. But she’ll also have bottles too. And soon, we need to start her on cereal as well.”

Loki nodded seriously in agreement. “She was very interested in my cereal this morning.”

Darcy just smiled. “She was interested in your spoon.”

 

“Well that was horrible,” Darcy sighed, heading back into the living room. Loki looked up from the floor where he and Anna were playing.

“Is there something wrong with the machine?” Loki asked, suddenly concerned that he had produced something that injured Darcy’s luscious, magnificent breasts. He would never forgive himself if he did that.

“No, I think it feels exactly like it is supposed to, which is nothing like her. It is pretty unnatural. But it looked right based on the youtube videos.”

Loki scowled. “This is a terrible way for a society to share knowledge. Where are the bonds of elders?”

“Well, my mom is in New Mexico, so we’ll just have to make do. I managed to get six ounces out so I think we’re good to go with this experiment.”

Loki rubbed Anna’s tummy as she kicked her legs up and down and squealed. “Good, I think she is feeling peckish. She has started to fuss.”

“Ok,” Darcy murmured, handing him the bottle, “this is going to be terrible. Or so says youtube.”

His brow narrowed slightly. “Why?”

“Because you have to do it by yourself. If she knows my boobs are an option, she won’t take it. So, I’m going to go hide in the bedroom and you try to feed her.”

“But...I...no!” Loki stammered, clammering to his feet. “I don’t know how to feed her!”

“It isn’t hard. Just don’t let her eat too fast, she has your appetite. If she guzzles it all down, it will all come back up. So pull it back from her. And just rub it on her gums until she latches.”

Anna had the best timing. Just as Loki was about to offer another reason as to why he shouldn’t be left alone with this task, she started her stuttered, hungry, feed-me-or-I’ll-die cry.

“Ok, that’s your cue,” Darcy said, walking backwards back down the hall. “You can do it! You’ve spent so many nights walking her. You can take it.”

Twenty minutes later of non-stop starving crying, Darcy stormed out of her bedroom. “What’s going on?” she said. Her eyes flew wildly to Loki’s form on the couch. He was bouncing a wailing Anna on one arm, holding a bottle in the opposite hand, and intently staring at the iPad on the couch.

“I am watching a video on youtube,” he seethed, “because this is not working. She will not take it.” Darcy charged forward, unable to stand the cries of her hungry baby, but Loki held up his hand. “No! You were right. Don’t let her see you. In fact, don’t let her even smell you.”

“Ah!” Darcy cried, throwing up her hands in frustration. She headed out of sight in the hallway and paced. Hearing Anna cry out of hunger was absolute torture; she could even feel her milk trying to come down despite the fact that she’d just pumped.

“Darcy,” Loki called, “just remember that this was your idea. Commit to the task at hand, even if it is unpleasant.” He only heard her whimper from the hallway. “Perhaps go for a walk my love?” he offered, trying again with the bottle. Anna only spit it out and wailed until her little face turned beet red. He deeply regretted his promise not to use magic.

“I can’t!” she shouted, “I haven’t even taken a shower.”

“Then why not get in the shower?” he called in return. Darcy considered it. It was a good solution. She wouldn’t be able to hear the baby crying and Anna wouldn’t feel like she was close by. Loki heard the door shut behind her and he closed his eyes briefly. So, much for his lovely day on the couch with Darcy and Anna. Well he and Anna were on the couch. He held her up in front of his face as she thrashed and wailed. “Darling,” he said quietly, “I am, unfortunately, your only option.”

 

After half an hour spent huddled and crying under the hot water, feeling like the worst mother in the world, Darcy finally had to turn off the water before she shriveled up and died. Silence. No crying. Either she was eating, dead, or Loki had magicked her. Darcy squeezed the water out of her hair and wrapped herself in a an oversized towel as quick as she could. She didn’t even think twice about the trail of water following her as she traipsed down the hall.

“Loki,” she called, “it is working or did you both give up?” She barely registered Thor standing in the corner of the living room. Darcy came to a sudden stop when she saw Loki looking at her like he was in trouble while he sat on the couch next to the most beautiful woman Darcy had ever seen. And the most beautiful woman was holding Darcy’s baby and feeding her with a bottle while Loki stroked Anna’s head the way Darcy normally did. Darcy just gaped at him.

“Darcy,” he said, rising slowly from the couch, as the beautiful woman turned her face to Darcy with a full smile, “this is my mother, Frigga, Queen of Asgard.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of a monster chapter, but things got to get moving now.

Darcy froze and dripped a puddle on the floor. Her sort-of mother-in-law was sitting on the couch, feeding her baby, looking all regal and shit in silver gowns and intricate blonde braids. And Darcy was naked, soaking wet, emotionally wrecked, and wrapped in a beach towel that had a sun wearing sunglasses. Not exactly a smart impression.

“Darcy!” Frigga smiled warmly, “I am so glad to finally meet you.”

Darcy made an awkward move that she later registered as some kind of attempt to curtsey, but she was distracted by the happy gurgling sound of an almost full Anna starting to get distracted from her mid-morning snack. She immediately felt the panic inside her begin to ebb. “How did you get her to…”

“Ah,” Frigga sighed, looking back down at Anna, “her father was the same way. It took two days to get him to eat. The trick is not to put the bottle straight into her mouth. Rest it against her chin, like your breast would naturally, and then tap her lips with the nipple. She’s as happy as can be.”

“That’s because she is in her grandmother’s arms,” Thor said happily, swaying back and forth, arms crossed like he was presiding over some great family reunification.

“Mother,” Loki said, trying to ignore his brother, “I am very glad to see you and even more glad that you have managed to get Anna to take her first bottle, but what are you doing here?”

Frigga just smiled at Loki knowingly. “I wanted to meet my granddaughter,” she said sweetly. Her eyes darted to Darcy, still standing in her puddle twisting her fingers together nervously. “And I wanted to meet her mother, who I’ve heard so much about.” Her eyes shifted back to Loki and she gave him a knowing look. Loki’s cheeks pinkened in a way Darcy had never seen. Frigga knew lots of things, perhaps even more things than Loki had already confessed.

“Um, I’m going to just...go get changed,” Darcy stammered, throwing her thumb back to her room.

“Yes,” Loki said, springing into action, “I will come with you as we must discuss...what to make for dinner.” Loki immediately came around the couch and placed his hand at her lower back, guiding her back towards the bedroom.

“Let us have hamburgers!” Thor suggested. “We do not have hamburgers on Asgard mother, you will like them.”

“Do not forget to burp her or she will spit up” Loki called as he quickly pushed open the bedroom door.

“Oh my god,” Darcy whisper-screamed as Loki closed the door behind him. “Your mother!”

“I did not call her,” he said, hands raised to beg forgiveness for a crime he did not commit. “She appeared at Thor and Jane’s house this morning and claimed that she saw her sons in need of her guidance. She has foresight.”

“And then she just stopped by? She didn’t have the foresight to see that today is not exactly a good day! You and I are...working on stuff.” She motioned back and forth between them with her hand. She was feeling closer to him for some reason. She wanted to be closer.

“Thor brought her here; she arrived about five minutes after you got in the shower!” Loki tried not to look as Darcy yanked open her dresser and dug around for a pair of panties.

“Don’t watch,” she called over her shoulder, “we aren’t that cuddly yet.” But he did watch as she tugged them up her hips; that one small glimpse of soft, pale skin and round, firm ass would have to get him through gods knows how many more cold showers.

Darcy stopped as the reality of the timing hit her. “Holy shit,” she groaned, “that means I was in the god damn shower for 25 minutes while your mother sat in the living room. She probably thinks I’m a negligent mother!”

‘No!” Loki exclaimed, “no, she would never. She said so herself. I didn’t even have to explain after I said that we were attempting to feed Anna her first bottle.” His eyes were fixed on her face. “Were you crying in the shower?”

“Yes,” Darcy called, heading behind her closet door  to pull on a bra. “It was fucking torture thinking of her out there hungry and screaming. I can’t explain it, I just feel this panic and pain when she’s unhappy or...”

“She is fine, everything is fine.”

“Everything is not fine Loki!” she hissed, storming into the room and forgetting that she was clad only in her jeans and bra. His posture immediately changed and he tried very hard not to gape. She felt bad; she shouldn’t tease him. She darted back into the closet and dug around for a shirt. “What are we going to do? Why is she here? Where is she going to stay? I guess she could sleep in here if we clean up and you and I could sleep on the couch…that might be the only way we get to cuddle on the couch today...”

“We cannot sleep on the couch,” Loki said indignantly. “It is barely big enough for me.”

“What? It pulls out,” Darcy called, now emerging fully dressed. Loki just stood there with an angry, perplexed look on his face. “Are you telling me you slept on the couch for a month and never realized it is a pull out?”

“Nevermind that now,” he said angrily as Darcy snickered at him. “She has only revealed that she wanted to see the baby. She may not stay the night, or even for dinner.”

“But Thor wants to eat hamburgers.”

Loki rolled his eyes. He was not at all interested in managing the logistics of his extended family, especially tending to his brother’s appetite. “We will go out for dinner.”

 

Loki headed back into the living room and Darcy ducked into the bathroom to blow dry her hair. She never blow dried her hair, it would take at least twenty minutes, but now that Anna was fed and content she felt ok about doing it. If this is what it meant to have your mother-in-law around, maybe she should embrace it.

Loki found his brother and mother leaning over Anna on the floor, inspecting the contours of her face.

“I believe she has Loki’s nose…” he heard Frigga say with warmth in her voice, “and his cheekbones, but those are her mother’s lips and eyes. Darcy is a very beautiful young woman.”

“That she is mother,” he agreed, perching on the couch behind her, “but you cannot tell about Anna’s cheekbones yet, she is a bit rotund in her face.”

“Loki,” his mother admonished him.

“It is not an insult. Darcy says it is baby fat. Apparently there is a special kind of fat that infant Midgardians carry that wastes away as they age. And for now it makes her very cute.”

“She is very cute,” Frigga whispered in awe, tickling her granddaughter, “she is exquisite.”

“Brother,” Thor asked tentatively, “I know that when she was born…”

“She appeared as Jotun,” Loki replied firmly.

“But only briefly,” Thor nodded. “Once Banner put her on Darcy’s chest she began to shift. And now?”

Loki changed position on the couch, clearly uncomfortable with the line of questioning. Frigga’s shoulders sagged. If she could take away one thing in the entire universe it would be this, she would make him free of it.

Loki sniffed and looked out the window. “She mirrors her parents. When she is with Darcy she is like this and if I remain in Aesir form, so does she. But if I shift and I hold her, she will shift as well. She cannot control it.”

“Does she share your markings?” Frigga asked, looking over her shoulder at him. Loki nodded silently. He hated discussing this with his family. They had taught him to hate himself, knowing full well what he was.

Thor considered this. “She is normal size for a human infant. Have you been able to assess if she has any other Jotun qualities?”

“You mean does her gaze turn Asgardian children into ice?” Loki sneered. Thor and Frigga visibly flinched. Loki sighed. “She has not been sick yet, no colds or apparent stomach complaints or problems with her bowels. Darcy says she has not even had the ‘sniffles,’ whatever strange disease that may be. She does spit up her food if she eats too much or too fast or burps especially forcefully or does not burp enough, but that is calming as she ages. And she gets gassy.”

“That is normal for all babies,” Frigga smiled, her hand immediately gravitating towards Mr. Monkey on the floor. Anna’s eyes lit up when her friend appeared in front of her face.

Loki couldn’t help himself. As much as he wanted to be a grump at the imposition of his family, he smiled when his baby smiled. He couldn’t stop it. “That is her favorite,” he said softly, “his name is Mr. Monkey.”

“Mr. Monkey,” Frigga cooed and Anna squealed in reply, kicking her legs with excitement.

“Perhaps I should purchase her one of those dolls in my likeness,” Thor mused, looking at the box of stuffed toys, most of with had been purchased by Jane. “I wonder why Jane has not already brought one…”

“Because brother,” Loki said tiredly and rising from the couch, “you have somehow managed to convince a sensible, intelligent woman to fall in love with you. Mother, Darcy will be ready in a few minutes. Is there not something regarding the stone to discuss?”

“It is still in pieces?” she asked casually, not taking her eyes of the baby.

“Yes,” he said, growing impatient, “you know that.”

“I do.”

“So then?”

Frigga’s attention was soundly on playing peekaboo with Anna, pretending that she was hiding behind Mr. Monkey. The little girl was having a meltdown of joy over it. “You must continue to puzzle over it. Hard work is the only thing that will solve this problem. That and time. And I also think maybe the right kind of pressure...” she trailed off as if she was contemplating this possibility.

“It is a rock meant to control time. If you fix it we could just go back in time and then this time spent will not be wasted,” Thor offered. Loki scowled and rolled his eyes. His brother was about as intelligent as a box of rocks.

“Yes, it will take time to mend it,” Frigga echoed. Loki only humphed and collapsed back into the couch. Neither of them seemed to understand the severity of this conundrum. He had found nothing in any texts on how to mend an infinity stone. It was supposed to be unbreakable. “Don’t be a grump about it Loki,” his mother continued, “focus your energies. You cannot just have the things you want because you want them. You must make an effort to mend things.”

He knew his mother was right. It seemed all the woman in his life who could talk were telling him the same things. His stayed silent and let her play with the baby. Thor’s phone rang in his pocket and he, thankfully, went into the kitchen to yell into the receiver.

“What do you mean the ‘right kind of pressure’ mother?” Loki asked, moving himself closer behind her. When she had her suspicions about magic she was always so cryptic. That was part of why he convinced himself to go in the first place.

“The infinity stones are drawn to weakness, Loki, and corruption. They were not made by the ancients out of good intention; never mistake that they are evil at their core. You know you must be careful how you wield it. But I think to convince it you are its master, you will need to force it. You will need to show it another kind of power.”

“You talk about it like it is sentient. It is a piece of glass mother.”

“It is magic Loki. Magic more powerful than you. Be very careful.” He sighed and collapsed back on the couch, wishing he could already control time and speed through a day spent in the company of his family.

 

Finally, Darcy emerged from the bathroom. She came to stand behind him and one small hand rubbed his shoulder, silently telling him they were in it together. She was the only thing able to pull him out of his funk.

“So,” she said, as Thor returned from the kitchen, “Jane is on her way over?”

“How did you know Lady Darcy?” Thor smiled.

“Because it is impossible not to overhear your phone conversations.” Loki snorted and reached up to squeeze Darcy’s hand. He loved so many things about her.

“Ah, Midgardian technology is difficult to master,” Thor said, shaking his head and not quite realizing he was the butt of the joke. “But yes, Jane is on her way and she has suggested we go on an outing as a family and I agree. So let us go to the park!” Thor thundered, “they have hot dogs there.”

Loki shook his head, pulling on Darcy’s hand to guide her around the couch and into his lap. “We went to the park yesterday and you ate six hot dogs. It was foul.”

“What? Why? We discussed this brother, hot dogs are a Midgardian food speciality. They are delicious. Mother should try one!”

“Sons,” Frigga called from the floor, “I am nearly four thousand years old. I have had a hot dog before Thor. And I have been to Central Park many times.”

Darcy cleared her throat. “I was thinking that...since it is warm out…we could go to the beach. It isn’t quite warm enough to swim, but we could have a picnic. If you can only stay for today Frigga, my grandmother always said that taking me to the beach was one of her favorite memories of me as a baby.”

Frigga rose to her feet and smiled at Darcy broadly. “I think that is a lovely idea dear.” Immediately her Asgardian robes transformed into cropped pants and a light sweater, ideal for beach strolling.

“Oh good,” Darcy said, clapping her hands and jumping up. “Because I have the cutest beach outfit for Anna and I’ve been waiting so patiently to use it. Tony and Pepper gave it to me. Want to help me get her ready?”

Frigga bent down and scooped up the baby and immediately followed Darcy out of the room, chattering about a visit to the beach on her home realm with Thor and Loki when they were children. “Loki is a very good swimmer,” she offered. I’ll bet, Darcy smirked to herself, that body probably swims like a fish.

Loki and Thor simply stared after them for a moment. “Brother,” Thor finally offered, “you cannot wear leather pants to the beach.”

Half an hour later they were ready to go. Darcy had made a list of things for Loki to conjure when they got there so they didn’t have to carry anything. Loki strapped Anna to his chest in her sling and when everything was done, Darcy herded them out of the apartment towards the subway. Thor asked quietly why they did not just transport there, since both Loki and Frigga were present, and Loki replied just as quietly that Darcy preferred not to use magic on the baby. “Oh she’s right,” Frigga said quietly to her sons. “It will stunt her growth.”

“No it will not,” Loki scoffed.

“Yes it will. I used it on you."

That shut Loki up.

  
  


It took almost an hour to get to Coney Island on the subway, and by the time they arrived Thor insisted they immediately sit and eat lunch. Loki covered an entire picnic table with food and they enjoyed lunch, although half the time was spent watching Thor inhale.

They enjoyed the day for a while, cavorting in the waves. Loki and Thor each raised their respective mates in their arms and threatened to toss them into the surf. Loki and Darcy had a lot of fun introducing Anna to sand and water. Thor dug a very large hole and then Jane buried him in it. Frigga watched everyone with a broad smile.

Eventually everyone collapsed on the blankets. Thor and Jane were now captivated with Anna, having propped her up against Thor’s legs so she could sit up. Loki seemed to be resting, although Darcy expected he had shifted back to brooding and plotting. She got up to wander down to the water and was alone only for a bit before she felt Frigga join her.

“Darcy, my dear,” Frigga began, “I think my son gave you some news yesterday that must have raised questions. I want you to know you can ask me anything, even things you cannot ask him.”

Darcy felt relief wash through her; that was exactly what she needed. She was trying to avoid thinking about this insane plot Loki was concocting, despite the fact that knowing he wanted to be with her forever made her feel much better.

“Can it really be done?” she asked first.

Frigga nodded. “If he can fix the stone, I think it is possible.”

“I mean,” Darcy said again, “can he do it? Does he have enough power?”

Frigga sighed. “Loki is a very powerful sorcerer, it is true. And he has a brilliant mind. I don’t doubt that he can figure out how to make it work. Whether he had the inner strength to master its power is another thing. I’m afraid you are quite important to that process. He must be fighting for something he wants more than anything.” She looked over her shoulder where Loki was now blowing zerberts on the bottom of Anna’s feet. “I don’t think it will be too difficult however. I have never seen so much love from him as he has given to you and Anna.”

Darcy nodded. She knew that Loki loved them and that he would fight for them. He was fighting for them. “Is it safe?” she murmured, watching her baby giggle and grab for her father’s face.

“For you and Anna, yes. For Loki, I do not know. All of the infinity stones exact a cost. The space stone, the tesseract, grants enormous power, but at the cost of your own soul.” Darcy’s eyes flew wide. That would explain quite a bit. “But,” Frigga continued, “you should not give him a free pass because of this. He was not under its power when he went barrelling off to find the time stone.”

Frigga suddenly stopped and turned out to the ocean.

“I think, Darcy, that you understand that Loki is very deeply scarred from his upbringing and the revelation of his true parentage.” She sighed sadly and Darcy immediately felt the need to support her. “I wish I could say that his claims of inequality at the hands of Odin were untrue, but I cannot. Most of the time Odin was a good father to him, but he also worried about when Loki’s Jotun powers would come into being. That was partly why I trained him, so they would be channeled. It did not help that he is naturally out of step with most of what is valued in Asgard, and thus, has not learned to value himself through any other way but to look down on others.”

Darcy nodded. That sounded about right. She had to hand it to the lady, she knew her kids inside and out. They remained silent for a moment, watching the the waves rise and fall, before Darcy finally had the courage to speak, to say something that had been bothering her and about which she had no one to talk to.

“I want her to be kind,” Darcy said quietly, “and compassionate. I want her to be strong and know herself and made choices for the right reasons. But I don’t know how to teach her those things.”

Frigga smiled and reached for Darcy’s hand. “We cannot control who our children become, we can only provide them lessons along the way and hope that they learn to think well. And you will not be alone.”

Darcy felt her eyes water, since that was what she was most of afraid of. “You don’t think so?” she said, wiping away one tear that managed to leak out.

“No,” Frigga said softly, but her voice sure, “he will never leave you. He has with you something he has never found anywhere else. You are magical to him for that; a thousand years he has looked for place where he feels wanted and accepted and you made that for him. It was difficult for him to reconcile that what he needed so badly should come from a place, from a people, that he had dismissed as frail and unimportant, as having no value. You Midgardians cannot do what the Aesir value, you are not strong or particularly powerful compared to other realms. But, I think, you love more easily. It is your frailty, your mortality that makes it so; you are more tolerant and accepting that any other realm I have seen.”

Darcy scoffed at that. “We kill each other by the thousands.”

“Yes, but you are learning.”

They were quiet again until Darcy managed the other thing she didn’t really have anyone to talk to about, not even Jane who was angry for her own reasons. “I am trying to forgive him,” she said, “maybe I already have. But I can’t quite...let him back in. I’m so afraid that it won’t be real.”

Frigga smiled at that. “Loki has earned your distrust, he knows that. Darcy, love is not something that royal Asgardians speak of. While others dream of finding their true loves, their soulmates, I had to remind my sons that they would marry whom their father commanded. If it formed a truce, so be it. I did not teach them to dream about love because that would have been too cruel.”

“But when Loki came to me after your argument, he was distraught. He did not have the words to say that what he felt for you was love. He said he would rather fall off the end of the Bifrost again that be without you for one minute of the next four thousand years.”

“And then he left for a year.”

“And he did,” she nodded, “but I think you know he did it in order to secure your future. It is a hard stone to swallow, to have been left behind and to have known nothing and then to have everything shift so dramatically. It will take time. All things take time to mend.”

“Is this a moms only party or can an auntie with the baby join?” Darcy smiled at her best friend’s voice.

“Of course,” Frigga said, wrapping an arm around Jane’s shoulders. “I am very happy to be here with both of you. My sons have chosen extremely well. Or should I say, they have been very lucky.”

Darcy snorted. “Loki is lucky for sure.”

“Yes, he is,” Frigga smiled. “Where have they gone?”

“Thor is looking for food and Loki is being grumpy and staring at the ocean.”

“Ah, same as always then,” Frigga smiled. She turned to Anna in Jane’s arms. “Does my darling granddaughter want to get her toes wet?

 

Loki sat in the sand, watching Jane, Darcy, Frigga, and Anna play in the surf. It was a happy scene to be sure, but it was clouded by his endless pursuit for it to never end.

“Brother,” Thor called, sitting down next to him in the sand, “care to join me in this feast?”

Loki peered into Thor’s bag of snacks and immediately his face turned in revulsion. “What is this brother?” he asked, his voice filled with disgust. “Are these pork rinds?”

“They are very good.”

“Where do you get all of this?” Loki pawed through a few bags of potato chips, some candy, something called Combos.

“Those are Jane’s favorites. Do not take those.” Thor tugged his bag away and handed Loki a sack of Sweet Chili Doritos. “I acquired them at the store just over there and I think you will like these. They are reminiscent of Thai food.”

Loki shrugged, willing to try anything that might taste like Thai food. “How did you pay for all this?”

“I did not.”

“You stole it?” Loki smiled. He liked that Thor might have the capacity for mischief.

“No, they gave it to me. I am a saviour of this city, thanks to you.”

“Gods,” Lokis scowled, cramming in a mouthful of chips. They were delicious. “I can’t believed they just give you things,” he said, his mouth still full.

Thor shrugged. “Hasn’t that always been the case?”

“Yes,” Loki muttered. They sat quietly, eating their salty snacks and watching the women play.

“Brother,” Thor said after some time, “I want to discuss the stone with you. Is it still acting strangely?”

“Yes,” Loki said, flicking his wrists to magic away the Dorito dust. In the next second the small bundle appeared in his hands. He smoothed out a place in the sand and set it down between them. “Watch closely.” He unwrapped the shards slowly and, as every time before, they demonstrated their magic, clinging together. This time it lasted until Loki counted five. Every few days they clung together longer.

“Fascinating,” Thor whispered. “What do you think mother meant by all of that ‘time’ and ‘pressure’ talk?”

“I do not know,” Lokis replied, “I have been puzzling over it all afternoon.”

Out of the corner of their gaze then saw the women approaching. Darcy was coming at him with a huge smile, clearly happy, and holding a baby who was starting to look like she needed a nap. He stood, eager for their closeness.

Thor scrambled to his feet next to him, sweeping the stone up in its wrapper and holding it out to Loki. “Brother!” he exclaimed, “put this away. I haven’t told Jane yet.”

“You haven’t told her?” Loki replied, curious to hear that his brother was now actively lying about something fairly important. “You are taking a risk Thor, Darcy is likely to bring it up at any time.”

“I will tell her, but I must first convince her to marry me. You and Darcy have the baby; your destiny is already inevitable. Jane might yet change her mind.”

“Thor, come now, she will not.”

“Will you just take this please,” Thor said hurriedly, shoving it into a slight gap between Loki’s body and the baby sling he was still wearing. He managed it just in time because Darcy was not right in front of them.

“Hello,” she smiled, shifting Anna to her other hip. “What’s going on over here?”

“Nothing, Thor has bought some disgusting food, except for these crunchy things here,” Loki replied, pointing at the Doritos. “What about you all? Is Anna ready for her nap?”

“I think she is,” Darcy nodded, looking down at the baby, who was starting to rub her face against her mother’s shoulder.

“Shall we depart?”

“Actually, I was hoping we could put her in the sling and you and I could go for a walk on the beach,” Darcy smiled. “I’ll let you hold my hand…”

Loki didn’t need a second to consider. He flipped open the carrier as Darcy fit Anna in against his chest and off they went. The stone, for the moment, immediately forgotten.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is pretty smutty. FYI.

By the time they got home, everyone was exhausted. The day had been lovely, but it wore them all out, especially Darcy and Loki since they hadn’t slept well the night before. Even though they both enjoyed Frigga’s visit, they still wanted their quiet time at home.

Anna had slept through Darcy and Loki’s entire walk on the beach, which was mostly quiet between them and, in a sign of growing faith, entirely comfortable. She woke up when they were half way back to the apartment and by the time they got home, she was wiggling and ready to get out and play.

Darcy extracated her from the sling and immediately handed her to her grandmother before heading into the kitchen to get drinks for everyone. Loki headed to the bedroom to take off the sling and put it away. As he pulled it over his head, he felt something graze down his body and then hit the floor with a thunk. He looked down, thinking it was some toy of Anna’s that became lodged in the sling, but his heart sped up when he saw the beige cloth bundle he knew to be the stone.

“Gods,” he murmured, bending down to pick it up, “how did this…” and then he remembered Thor’s hasty panic, Darcy’s impending approach, and his excitement to be in her company. Fuck, he was lucky he didn’t drop it on the beach. He smiled to himself as he flicked his wrist and hid it away, he never really appreciated that human word until that moment. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Darcy had rung it from his lips a few times during sex, and he certainly appreciated it then.

The rest of the evening was spent in happy comfort. Darcy and Loki finally got to lounge and cuddle on the couch, letting their family fawn over their baby. Darcy got to have a second adventure in pumping and Frigga gave Anna her dinner time bottle.

When it was time to say goodnight, Loki was surprised to see his mother so emotional. She was usually so stoic and strong, but she was on the verge of tears over saying goodbye to Anna.

“Mother,” he said gently, “you can come and see her whenever you like. The Bifrost is fixed.”

“I know,” she sighed, “but it isn’t quite the same. She’s so beautiful and happy. You’re a good father Loki.”

He managed to eek out a smile. Anymore and he might have joined her in crying at the front door. My god, he thought to himself, when did I become so soft on the inside. Then Anna reached out her little arms towards him as Frigga moved to hand her over. Oh, he thought as he lifted her into his arms, that’s when.

The rest of the evening was normal. Anna had her bath and read some stories with Loki. Then they all sat on the couch while she nursed. As soon as she was asleep, Loki watched Darcy’s face collapse in exhaustion. She managed to get through the 10pm news and then she ran her fingers through her hair and announced she was going to bed.

“I will join you soon,” Loki called, but he knew he wouldn’t. As soon as Darcy was asleep, he would check on the stone. A little thought had nagged at him since they got home. Why did it make that sound when it hit the floor?

He got his answer soon enough. He sat at the kitchen table and summoned the stone. Before he even started to unwrapped it he could feel its energy had shifted; it was palpably powerful and he could feel its wholeness under his fingertips as he hastily pulled back the cloth. And he was right. The pink-orange shards were no longer themselves, no longer desperately trying to cling together. They had reformed into a smooth flat form, cloudy like an unpolished diamond.

But how? What had changed? It had spent the day pressed between himself and Anna, but not hard enough to make it uncomfortable. He forgot it was there. She hadn’t fussed too much, although she had wiggled the whole way home after she awoke. Maybe she could feel it? At that particular moment, he was too excited to wonder about this turn too much. He set the stone on the table and sat back in his chair, considering it. He could put it away until he had time to study it properly. Tomorrow he could summon Thor, and maybe even his mother, to study it with him. He could ask the Allfather. None of those, however, were fun options.

The only fun option was to just try it out and he had been dreaming of how he would experiment with it. There was something he quite desperately wanted to see. The thing was, he had been so good for months. He just wanted a little adventure. He scribbled a note to Darcy, telling her that if she woke to find him gone he was simply experimenting with the time magic and he would be back. She should not worry, although he knew that she would. He hesitated one more second, considering the needless pain he might cause her, but decided to chance it nonetheless.

First, he cast an invisibility cloak over himself. He did not want to be seen, he only wanted to observe. Then, he held the stone in his palm and squeezed tightly. He tried to picture Anna’s birth in his mind. Darcy, laboring, Jane and Pepper at her side. Banner was there; they were at Stark Tower in a state-of-the art healing room. He concentrated on the image and he felt the unmistakable glow of magic start to move through him.

Before he even opened his eyes, he heard her voice. It was that aching moan of his name that she used to let out as she approached her orgasm. He immediately blanched at the realization he had gone farther back than he intended. He opened his eyes slowly, and there in the dark he saw his last night with Darcy.

She was astride him, her head thrown back in pleasure, her breasts thrust towards him. Her hips and ass moved against him in the most painstakingly pleasurable rhythm as she moaned his name. She went slowly as she worked herself around him; he could remember what it felt like to be inside of her. She was the most beautiful and sensual thing he’d ever seen. He gasped softly, realizing at this moment that she was already pregnant. He looked closer to see if he could tell. That was simply torture.

And there he was, beneath her, his hands gripping her hips tightly, his own face contorting in his attempt to not to give in to the range of emotions within him. He remembered that moment, watching her from below. With each thrust and switch of her hips he grew more and more convinced that he shouldn’t leave. But every time she sighed and moaned his name he knew he had to; he knew he couldn’t live without her voice for the rest of his life.

She whimpered his name as she ground herself against him, and Loki felt himself grow hard at the memory of how much Darcy enjoyed rubbing her clit against the base of his cock. The heat of her, how wet she got for him, all of it was almost too much for him. He knew he should concentrate on the rock and try to figure out how to get out of there, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. It had been so long since he’d seen her like this.

“Oh god” she moaned, “Loki, I’m so close.” He smirked to himself and watched a similar expression of amusement pass his own lips, although both sets of eyes stayed locked on Darcy. He could always tell and not just from the memory of it, but he watched his own face focus in on Darcy and her pleasure. He sat up from beneath her and attached his mouth to her breast, suckling and teasing the taught pink nubs. She whimpered and pulled his hair, again signally that she was on the verge of crashing over.

“Come now Darcy,” he growled, sinking his fingers into the soft flesh of her ass, “harder.” Darcy moaned and pushed her fingers into his hair, holding on tightly as she rode him with clearer purpose.

“Don’t cum yet Loki,” she gasped, her movements now out of her control, “I want more.” Loki heard himself hiss in pleasure as she started to swell inside and tighten her grip on his cock. He felt his own heart beating hard in his ears because he knew within seconds she would explode and that hot spasm would cover him as she came.

And then it was happening. She was crying out his name and her thrusts were desperate. He gripped her hips, burying his face in her breasts and Loki remembered how hard he had to try not to cum with her. She came so hard, squeezing him tightly and dripping down him to the point he could feel it on his balls. He groaned her name as he rocked her in his arms and she went limp and collapsed against him, panting erratically as she tried to recover.

Loki throbbed in his pants, wondering if the rock was some how trying to punish him. This was torture and he couldn’t stop it. He watched himself trail kisses across her neck and hold her tightly, whispering in her ear how beautiful she was. Then suddenly he moved from beneath her, lifting her with him and turning them so she was on her back and he was on top. He didn’t break their connection and Loki felt little sharp throbs of arousal move through him as Darcy moaned at the sensations spurred by their movement.

Then he watched himself set a pace. He propped himself above her on one elbow and used the other to lift her leg up around his waist. The whole time he thrusted into her over and over and Darcy starting to pant again and moan his name. She lifted her other leg and wrapped them around him tightly, scratching her nails down his back as he started to let his lips wander down her neck and over her breast. “Fuck me Loki,” she whimpered, using her heels against his ass to urge him on, “deeper.” He went faster, driving himself into her and she started to groan.

“Gods Darcy,” he growled, pulling his knees up under her thighs and fucking her harder. She gasped in response and begged him not to stop. He watched helplessly as Darcy started to lift her hips in response, thrusting back. The sound was unbelievable, the smacking of their skin, the audibly wet plunge of his cock inside her. He tried to look away but the sight of his cock disappearing into and then emerging slick and hard from inside of Darcy was impossible to resist.

Loki practically choked on his saliva when it occurred to him that this wasn’t even the hottest sex they’d ever had. This was normal, middle-of-the-night sex. No bells or whistles or special positions or locations. It was simply a case of one of them waking up horny and pulling the other along with them. He couldn’t remember who started it in this particular instance, but it didn’t really matter. At this point, they were so loud the sounds of the voices filled the room, if not the entire apartment. Darcy was close again and she was chanting for Loki to fuck her over and over. Loki, for his part, was a bit embarrassed by his desperate groans and the way he said her name, almost like he was begging her. What was he begging her for? He was already inside her. And then his heart went cold as he remembered what had been running through his head at that moment. Don’t ever leave me. I can’t live without you. I don’t want to be alone again.

He watched himself try to create the distance. He wasn’t yet ready to admit to her that he loved her. So instead of sinking into her embrace and the comfort and safety she could offer, he pushed himself up and pulled her legs over his shoulders, effectively putting distance between them. Darcy didn’t seem to mind because she was used to his withdrawals at that point and he was also getting in a few centimeters deeper and she was clearly losing her shit over it. She lost all words and was reduced to a groaning mass that occasionally uttered ‘right there’ and ‘yes,’ and before Loki could savor one minute more they were both on the precipice and it was over. He immediately wished that he could control the stone well enough to slow this moment down.

He watched himself collapse into Darcy’s embrace, her legs hiked up around his back. His ass clenched and unclenched, still thrusting mindlessly, and he knew he was still cuming deep inside her. Now the idea of filling Darcy with his seed made him feel warm inside. More babies. More Annas. More making love to Darcy. All of that would be his, hopefully for eternity.

They were in a panting heap now, rocking against each other and trading languid kisses. He moved to withdraw from her and Darcy pouted, whimpering ‘no’ and locking her legs around his waist. Loki smiled, he had no problem saying inside of her until he couldn’t anymore. They rolled to their sides, still connected, and kissed lazily until Darcy could barely stay awake.

Loki tensed as he watched himself. The moment was coming quickly now. He watched Darcy fall asleep and watched himself maneuver out her arms. He rose from the bed, naked, and cast one spell to clean himself and another to dress in his armor. Then he sat in the corner and watched her. He remembered assuring himself that she would still be there when he returned. It would only take a little while and once he declared his love and presented the time stone, Darcy would forgive him his absence. He rose in silence, and looked ahead, seeming to stare straight through himself and then, in a small flash, he was gone.

Now it was just him, Darcy, and the time stone. He didn’t need to watch her sleep, he got to do that all the time now. He pulled out the stone and concentrated, wanting to go back to his own bed in his own time. It did occur to him that he could undress, climb into bed with this Darcy, and she may let him do some of those naughty things to her that he enjoyed so much. He felt a shiver run through him as he considered the possibilities. They had just finished. Right now his seed was seeping out of her. Both of them enjoyed it immensely when he put his mouth to her afterwards to help ‘clean up.’ He found the melding taste of himself and Darcy to be intoxicating.

But he needed to concentrate and not manipulate this fissure in time to his liking more than was necessary. He concentrated on the stone, picturing his home with his mate and baby, this very apartment but oh so very different. A flash of light in front of him caught his gaze and he watched the light outside the apartment change. It was changing too fast, the night was rushing by and morning was starting to peek through the blinds. Darcy stirred as the orange light began to fill the room. She rolled and reached for him, but there was nothing. Her eyes opened, registering his absence, and then they closed.

“Why can’t you ever stay?” she whispered, before turning over and burying her face in his pillows. Loki felt his heart clench. It was true, more often than not he was already gone in the morning. This is what she had meant when she said that he only wanted sex from her.

She was quiet a little while longer and then the first morning of his absence proceeded as normal. He dumbly followed her around the apartment as she showered, dressed, and made coffee and pop tarts. He smiled; she didn’t eat pop tarts anymore.

Again the time began to move, the light flying by and as soon as Darcy left the door to go to work, it opened again and she was back, this time holding a bag of take out.

“Loki?” she called. Only silence. She left the food on the counter and flopped on the couch. She watched some TV. She looked at cats on the internet. When her stomach growled she ate the egg rolls from the bag of Chinese take out. She waited even longer for him. Hours passed. She ate a bit more of the food and then put it in the fridge. She picked up the phone and put it down. “Don’t be stupid,” she said to herself. “He does what he wants.”

Then the room changed. There were blankets and pillows on the couch. Empty ice cream containers on the counter. “Darcy,” called Jane’s voice from behind him in the kitchen, “how old is this Chinese food?”

“More than a week, but not two yet” she answered tiredly, coming out of the bathroom.

“Come on, let’s get dressed and go out to eat.”

“I...no, I want to stay home…” she mumbled, tucking herself into a pile of blankets on the couch.

“He can always find you,” Jane said, trying to reason with her. “You don’t have to stay here and wait for him.”

“I know, I just don’t feel well,” Darcy sighed, laying down and snuggling into her pillow.

“What’s wrong?” Jane came to her immediately, hand on her head checking for a fever.

“I feel really cold, like I have the chills, and my stomach is upset.”

“Have you felt like this all day? Did you eat that Chinese food?”

“No, and off and on for a few days. I’m really tired.”

“Do you want some soup?”

“No, I just want to sleep.”

“And mope.”

“I’m not moping. I know he will come back.”

“Ok,” Jane sighed, standing up and grabbing her bag off the table, “call me if you need anything. I’m throwing this Chinese food down the garbage shoot.”

Loki watched, dumbstruck. This was the beginning. She had not yet realized what was coming and she believed in him, she believed that he would return. He tried not to succumb to total self pity at the realization of how much he had destroyed by his departure. She had already loved him and trusted him and he threw it away.

He moved to rub his eyes, which were starting to burn, and when he looked back, he was following Darcy down the street. It was dark out and she was walking at night, which he always warned her against. She was walking quickly and as he caught up to her he could hear that she was crying. She was also muttering. “Fuck you Loki,” she said to herself, “how can you just disappear for three weeks without a word.” Suddenly they turned a corner and practically ran into a garbage pile outside a restaurant. The festering stench was awful, if not uncommon in New York, but Darcy did not merely step to the side. She staggered, as if she was dizzy, then she ran to the edge of an alleyway a few steps ahead and Loki watched helplessly as she vomited behind the wall. He wanted to go to her, but didn’t dare. She took a minute to compose herself before standing and returning to the street. Her face was flushed and her eyes wet. She looked miserable. She stalked into the street and raised her hand, flagging down an oncoming cab. He watched her get in and then the cab drove off down the street.

When he turned around, he was back in the apartment. Darcy was again huddled on the couch. Thor was there, standing with arms crossed. Jane was sitting next to Darcy, trying to comfort her.

“I have not yet found him,” Thor said quietly, his voice full of regret. “He is not in Asgard. And Heimdall cannot see him, which means he has masked himself fully. He cannot be found by any means but magic.”

“And your mother,” Jane said hopefully. “Can she find him?”

“No,” Thor said sadly. “She seems quite certain that he has gone on some kind of quest. She does not know where he is, or she will not say.”

Darcy suddenly burst into tears, burying her face in her knees. Loki watched his brother’s pained face as he went to her, kneeling in front of her. “Fear not, Lady Darcy,” he said, “Loki can take care of himself. He has done this many times over the years. He goes on an adventure and returns when he sees fit.”

“Without telling anyone?” Jane asked, clearly exasperated.

“Unfortunately yes,” Thor nodded. “He has not always felt that his family deserved to know the inner workings of his life. He assumes we do not care, so he acts as if we don’t and we suffer for it.” Loki felt his whole body tense. He did not know that his brother saw more than he said.

“Well Darcy is the one suffering now,” Jane said, her indignation clearly building. “She got dumped.”

“It’s not that,” Darcy whimpered, turning her tear stained face to her friends. She tried to wipe her tears with her sleeve, but there were so many it barely mattered.

“What is it?” Jane asked softly, tightening her grip on her friend.

“I’m pregnant,” she whispered. Loki felt the whole room shift, but it was not the stone. Jane’s mouth fell open in shock. Every muscle in Thor’s body tensed and he could feel the rage building in his brother.

“You are with child?” Thor stammered. “Loki’s child?” Darcy only nodded in reply. Thor, to what Loki immediately recognized as his eternal credit, leaned forward, placing one huge hand on her shoulder. “Lady Darcy, do not fear. We will take care of you.”

It was not very often that Loki felt a surge of what he would call love for his brother. But he felt it then, like a wave. His brother had done the honorable thing when he himself could not. Thor, despite all other failings, was steadfast. And Loki, not for the first time in his life, wanted to be like his big brother.

He felt the stone in his hand and he closed his palm, clenching it tightly. He squeezed it in his rage and his frustration and his pain. And when his grip relaxed, he was again in his bedroom, with sleeping Darcy and sleeping Anna. He stood between the end of the bed and Anna’s crib, watching them, both falling on their sides, arms stretched out ahead of them, soft puffs of air as they exhaled. Like mother, like daughter.

He immediately put the stone in its cloth and waved it away. It terrified him and he had been foolish to risk ruining everything again. He could not control it and it seemed to almost want to show him his failings and his pain. It had taken him to horrible moments he never wanted to see. It only let him manipulate time in order to see the truth. He was not yet powerful enough to use it and he was scared it would take him away from where he wanted to be most.

He would not be so stupid again he vowed. Being foolish and taking risks meant something entirely different again. He stood next to Anna’s crib watching her chest rise and fall. It meant he might never see her again. He turned around watched Darcy, huddled around a pillow in the way she now usually huddled around him. He shed his clothes and climbed, naked, into bed with her. He had not yet come to her this way and was not quite sure how she would react. He scooted up to her back, pulling her against his chest. She stirred softly and when he was sure she was awake, even if only barely, he leaned over and spoke.

“When I fell off the bifrost, I fell through cold darkness into nothing. I wandered through utter night, having no compass or point to reference. I felt, for the first time in my life, what it meant to truly be alone.” He felt her turn into his chest, her head cradled against his shoulder. She was listening.

“I had always felt alone, even within my family. I always felt of lesser value even if, I know now, I received no less love. I was never embraced by others, I was always the weird, dark, spare son. I thought that was lonely, but it was not. There was always the love of my mother and my brother, and sometimes at least, my father. But in the months in the darkness and even after when the Chitauri found me, I learned what true solitude and despair meant.”

“It means fear,” he said, and Darcy’s turned more into him as she heard his voice break the slightest bit. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. “It means that each coming day is a burden of unknowns, of insecurity. You feel no joy in the passing of time, in new days or new nights. You only harden yourself to prepare for what may come because there is nothing and no one to shield you.”

He could feel Darcy’s tears on his skin and he stopped trying to stop his. He buried his face in her hair and hugged her tightly, holding onto her as they both cried. “I am so sorry I did that to you Darcy, more sorry than I can say,” he gasped. “And I know how terrifying it is to take apart the hardness you have built around yourself. That is what I did in the months we were together. You took it all apart and I fled from you. I did not go just to find the stone. I went because I cannot fall into darkness twice and survive it and if I lost you I would do just that.”

He could feel her fingertips digging into his back. She was holding on for dear life, shaking in his arms. He tried to pull back and find her face, but she would not let him. And so they laid there, not speaking, not sleeping, just holding each other.

As the hours passed towards morning, she started to feel softer and weaker in his arms. Finally she pulled away enough that he could attach his lips to her forehead. She made a slight noise below him and he smiled as he realized it was a sniffle. She moved a bit more, slowly turning her face up towards him.

The kiss was hazy and unreal and slow. It was soft and a little wet and comforting. For a second her brain couldn’t believe she was kissing him and then her brain couldn’t believe she had ever stopped. It only lasted a few seconds and neither of them tried to push it further. She rested her head against his arm, and he locked his other arm tightly around her. She wouldn’t have been able to move out of his grasp without a good deal of effort. After, they both seemed to doze, occasionally findings the others lips again for another kiss. There wasn’t any heat, no hurry, just a few gentle caresses.

After a few hours of off and on sleep, Darcy awoke to Loki’s hand running up and down her back and Anna gurgling to herself in her crib. He had a soft, content smile on his face, laying in bed with Darcy and listening to Anna entertain herself with her new noises. When he saw that she was awake he leaned in and this time the kiss had more to it. She could feel his longing for her, his sorrow, his regret. She could tell how much he wanted to just be with her again, to be together, to be a family. Of course he had told her, but now she felt it so strongly through her whole body she wondered if he wasn’t using magic on her.

When the kiss finally ended he pulled back and immediately she felt his name catch in her throat. “Loki…” she started, shaking her head. She wasn’t ready to let him in, not it that way.

“Not yet,” he said softly, taking her hand and kissing all her fingers, “I know. But soon, my love,” he whispered, kissing the inside of her wrist, “very soon.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of a transition chapter, but the next one is going to be 100% smut.

A week later, Loki began his preparations for magically altering the apartment and his campaign to move Anna into her own room. Each night since his adventure with time travel, he had managed to get a little bit closer to Darcy. There were more kisses and caresses, but she always kept her distance and shut it down before it went too far. And he noticed that her gaze shifted rapidly between him and the crib where Anna was softly snoring.

During the day she didn’t seem to mind. He relished in the freedom to be affectionate with her. He didn’t miss an opportunity to touch her, to rest his hands on her waist or wrap an arm around her. Their daily strolls were now always done holding hands or walking arm in arm. He stole kisses and sometimes, like when Anna went down for her nap, he took the opportunity to lure Darcy to the couch for a fairly intense making out session. It reminded him of when they first started spending time together and she teased him endlessly with her beautiful body. As he pushed her back into the couch cushions and left kisses down the length of her neck, she always sighed and ran her hands over him. Sometimes she lifted her hips against his, but she always backed off if she felt him getting too excited. It was absolute torture.

He knew that a major obstacle to his and Darcy’s physical reunion was Anna’s continued presence in their room at night. She needed her own room. Darcy wasn’t saying that exactly, but it was clear that having sex with her daughter only a few feet away was not a line she was willing to cross. Loki wasn’t crazy about it either; he didn’t want his baby girl to witness or over hear any of the things he planned on doing to her mother. No, those activities were for behind closed doors. And possibly for within a cone of silence. And he most definitely had plans he wanted to see through.

But getting Anna out of their room was no small task. Darcy initially balked at the idea, claiming that she was too little, that she still sometimes needed to eat in the middle of the night, that she would be scared, or that something could happen to her. She seemed to be able to conjure any excuse to keep Anna in the room and that was because Darcy knew exactly what he was doing. Her heart sped up when she thought about having sex with Loki and not in the good way. It made her palms sweat. She was well aware that, even after everything she’d thrown at him, at this point she was the one with the commitment problem.

Loki finally convinced her that he should make Anna a room for the eventual, perhaps years in the future, move. He was convinced that if he could make a dream nursery, Darcy would put it to use. For this plan, he had to include Jane Foster and endure her skeptical stares. He brought the idea to her in secret, asking for her help in conjuring exactly what Darcy would want. That was how he wound up hiding in the kitchen and sneaking looks through baby magazines while Darcy was in the shower. He thought several times that this sort of behaviour was well beneath him. She had reduced him to near-mortal levels of ridiculousness. But, he reminded himself, this is something he should have done while Darcy was pregnant. He should have been around to listen to her dreams about a nursery and make her whatever she wanted for their baby. He would make up for it now.

But designing the decor and picking out furniture was only one challenge, although it was a hefty one as Jane excelled at internet research on the safety and durability of baby furniture. She would not let Loki simply pick a nice one and then cast some spells on it. No he had to pour through something called ‘consumer reports,’ because apparently Midgardians made substandard items for babies in an attempt to extract the pithiest amounts of extra funds from one another. He held his tongue, despite his desire to rage about the inanity of such an act. What did it say about the planet at a whole? It was then he also decided that at some point, well in the future, they would have to discuss a possible return to Asgard.

He also had to deal with the actual expansion of the space. It look quite a bit of planning to figure out how to add a second bedroom in the confined space of the apartment building without their neighbors being able to detect that something was going on. He would have to conceal the incursion of the space into their domain, but that part was fun. Loki still didn’t have a problem playing tricks on people, especially people he didn’t know who sometimes played some horrible noise Darcy called ‘metal music’ in the very early hours of the morning, causing Darcy to go next door and yell at them about waking her baby. Loki had even felt a bit smug the last time it happened as he had heard Darcy yell “don’t make my boyfriend come over here and tell you this, you’d rather deal with me, trust me.” It was an amazing feeling to be called her boyfriend. Even if he was immediately angry with himself for the weak pile of near-mortal he became when it came to Darcy. He was her ‘boyfriend’ and he was practically singing from the treetops.

If he was her boyfriend, then he wanted to act like it but all the women in the house seemed to be thwarting him. Darcy seemed to take two steps forward and then one step back every day. It was like being on a sexual teeter totter. One minute he really thought something was going to happen and in the next it was clear that no one would be paying attention to Loki’s needs in that department. Sometimes it was Darcy who interrupted their progress, but increasingly, his own daughter seemed determined to interrupt his happiness.

At nearly six months, Anna was making strong progress. She slept (mostly) through the night, although that night was really only 7 or 8 hours, which was not enough sleep for Darcy. That meant that on the nights that Anna didn’t really sleep that well, Darcy still napped with her. It took Loki over a week to convince Darcy to move Anna into her own room and just as she was about to relent, Anna started a new nightly routine. The routine was to scream bloody murder and refuse to sleep until well past midnight and then to wake up screaming at the crack of dawn. She cried a good chunk of the day, meaning she was only happy either when she was eating or immediately after she had eaten. Darcy surmised that she was having a growth spurt because she ate ravenously and more frequently than usual. Loki, despite more than two months of tending to his daughter’s bowels, was still shocked at the amount of ‘poop’ she was able to produce.

After a week of her terrible behaviour, Loki held his screaming thrashing baby up in front of his face and wondered what happened to his sweet little girl. She seemed to want to be attached to Darcy at all times or she was angry and red-faced if she had to wait for her father to prepare her bottle. If they were not tending to her howls than Loki was cooking and Darcy was eating; Anna eating so much made Darcy hungry all the time as well. Darcy’s breasts ached as her body struggled to shift to the demands of her baby and she was grumpy and everyone was overtired.

Loki found himself counting the days. He had told her ‘very soon’ and she more or less agreed. What could constitute ‘very soon’? It took her almost ten days to settle back into her normal routine and it was then that Loki resolved that Anna needed her own room. Sleeping with Darcy was becoming more intimate and more frustrating each night. Each night she very slowly made her way to his side of the bed, sliding first onto his chest and then a leg between his legs and a hand wandering down his side. It was the worst if either of them rolled onto their sides and their intimate centers found themselves once again in proximity to each other. It was as if his cock could sense the heat coming off of her and he fitfully slept in terror that she would awake to his arousal and send him back to the couch. Or perhaps she would wake and that would break them both and finally they could be together. But for that to happen, Anna would need to be in her own room. So in the meantime, he rose before either of them for the sole purpose of taking a long shower and relieving the pressure of having her body against his all night.

And so, Darcy smiled at the point at which they had arrived. There was almost no more hiding from one another, except for the sex problem, which she knew was a problem. But for now, she was greatly enjoying Loki’s ‘man’ act, charging around the apartment with his sketches and working his magic here and there to make Anna’s room. Darcy let her mind wander as he worked, imagining Loki as a human husband, doing his home improvement projects, maybe wearing a tool belt. With no shirt. She shifted on the couch to clear her mind. The tool belt thing would never happen but maybe the husband thing was a possibility. She need only hint at the shirtlessness and he would willingly go along.

Finally, he was done and with great pageantry (because he would always be a drama queen), Loki presented his work to his girls. The room was beautiful. Loki had listened to her diatribe about not drowning the baby in ‘girl colors.’ Instead her room was cast as the ocean and the sunset, with blues and greens and purples and oranges. She almost teared up as Loki explained that he wanted Darcy to feel relaxed and calmed by the baby’s room and he knew this was her favorite scene on Midgard. Darcy gave Anna to him and went closer to examine the detail of the murals along the walls. As she turned and watched Loki smiling at Anna as she pulled on his bottom lip and giggled at him, she couldn’t help but wonder if the sunset over the ocean wasn’t her favorite scene anymore.

That night, after a short argument which he won, Loki put Anna to sleep in her own room. He had hoped that the removal of the baby from their bedroom would mean an immediate increase in their intimate activities, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. Darcy suffered through the night. Anna was fine, asleep in her new crib, happily babbling at the mobile, but Darcy was tearful and wretched. And it kept on. Loki hahadving to convince her to leave the baby in her room every night. She spent at least a weeks worth of nights whispering to Loki in the dark about every possible thing that could go wrong in Anna’s room. It could be too cold or too hot. The air could be stale, the paint could flake and fall into her crib. She could get scared or wedge herself against the bars of her crib. What if they didn’t hear her? What if she needed them and they were asleep? Sleep alluded them until the wee hours of the morning until she finally fell into a fitful rest and Loki collapsed in exhaustion behind her. He cursed himself for too heavily acclimating to the Midgardian sleep schedule. He had never needed so much sleep before.

Finally, after having imagined every possible scenario, Loki stared at the ceiling wondering how much longer he had to bare her irrational fears while her body was pressed against his. She was laying across his chest, her fingers moving over his ribs idly, her thigh relaxed over his. He was trying very hard to control the tenting of his pajama pants. Almost three months in the everyday, intimate presence of the woman he loved without a drop of sexual release had driven him to the breaking point. Darcy was so occupied in her own thoughts that she couldn’t even hear the thundering rhythm of his heart beneath her head.

Loki threw the blankets away and jerked himself out from beneath her, storming to the closet and riffling for some clothes.

“Where are you going?” she cried, completely surprised by this sudden change in behaviour. They had spent many nights now in this same position and she didn’t want him to go.

“I’m going for a walk,” he said angrily.

“Why? It is almost one o’clock in the morning!”

“Because, Darcy Lewis, woman that I love and desire more than anything on not just this planet but eight other ones as well, there are only so many showers a man can take!”

And then he disappeared and Darcy sat astounded in the bed, wondering what had just happened. She recounted the days since they had kissed and since he had informed her there was a countdown to their reunion. A month maybe? Had it been more than a month? Time was slipping away from her in the haze of Anna. Part of her didn’t want Anna to go because she couldn’t imagine not having her baby only a few feet from her. The other part of her knew that if Anna was in her own room, there would no longer be any reason for Loki to share her bed except that she wanted him there.

Darcy stared at the spot he had disappeared from, realizing that she’d been using the baby to keep him at arm’s length. If they made love, it would mean that she was committing to forgiving him, to trusting him again. Was she ready to do that? Was she ready to let go of her anger at him? She couldn’t even remember the last time she was angry at him and not just irritated with Loki being okiL. Her real anger, the hard anger, seemed to have been absorbed by the ridiculous amounts of love in their home.

And then it occurred to her how changed he was. He told her he loved her all the time; he doted and fussed and obsessed over their baby. It seemed as if his purpose everyday was to make her and Anna smile as much as possible. He did things without being asked. She couldn’t remember the last time she went to the grocery store or bought toilet paper. He was almost the complete opposite of the lustful, distant, fascinating man who had gotten her pregnant. Now he was open and warm and...just as lustful. Darcy shivered as she thought about all the looks he had given her, the things he said that she pushed off with coy smiles and nervous laughs. It warmed her all the way through to think of how much he wanted her and how patient he was being. She couldn’t blame him for storming out in frustration. And just as she resolved that she deserved his temper tantrum, he reappeared with a terrified wide-eyed look.

Loki practically leapt across the room to her. “My darling,” he cried, his voice strangled in anguish, “I’m so sorry. I’m such a wretch, I said I wouldn’t and I did. I’m so sorry I left you, I was upset and I wanted space, and I did exactly what I promised I would not do.” D gasped at the depth of his anguish, the tears spilling over his cheeks made her heart practically thud to a stop. “Please forgive me” he begged, grasping her tightly and burying his face in her chest, “please Darcy do not hold me to this silly act. Please forgive me my love, do not send me away from you.”

Darcy didn’t know what to say. She had never seen him like this and she finally realized, in that moment, that all of his efforts for the last few months had been truly honest. And it broke her heart to realize that he still felt all of this was so fragile. She never felt that way; she knew he wouldn’t leave again. But he didn’t know that she wouldn’t kick him out.

“Ok,” she whispered, stroking his hair and trying to call him down, “it’s ok. Why don’t you just come back to bed.” She pulled him down until they were again laying side by side. His eyes were wet and pleading and she couldn’t take the way he was looking at her. It broke her heart. So she pulled him close to her and let him rest his head on her shoulder and wrap his arms around her. She held him quietly for a while as his ragged heart beat slowed and he calmed down.

Eventually she felt him shift. “My love,” his whispered, “I am sorry.”

She needed a minute to get herself ready and to really be sure. She moved to pull herself out from under him and he gripped her tighter. “Don’t go,” he urged, holding onto he waist.

“Just a minute,” she said quietly, slipping out of his grasp. He looked confused and disappointed at her leaving the bed so she leaned down and gave him a kiss ofnhis cheek. “I’ll be right back.”

She fled to the kitchen, immediately collecting the various pieces of her breast pump from the counter top where L had left them to dry. Anna hadn’t eaten in a few hours and she felt a bit of a tingle that she didn’t want distracting her for the rest of the night. She was 99% sure that she was ready, that it was time, but she needed the 15 minutes of peace and quiet to make up her mind.

Luckily, Loki left her alone. She put the milk away in the fridge and cleaned everything up. Then she stuck her head in Anna’s room, satisfied that her little girl was sleeping deeply and soundly. Then she paused outside the door to their room. The entire thing felt unfamiliar. She had not been nervous about sex with Loki since their very first time.

But now it was different. Now they were trying to build a family, to commit to one another, to trust one another. She knew that he had done everything he could at that point and now she had to make the leap of faith and take the risk. If he broke her heart again, she would survive it, but she would never be back in this place again. Fool me three times, she thought, he wouldn’t dare.

She smiled slightly as she pushed open the door. He was back in his night time uniform, sleep pants and no shirt. He was turned on his side, watching the door, waiting for her. She closed the door behind him and walked to the middle of the room.

“Darling,” he whispered, holding out his hand for her to join him. Instead she reached down and grasped her nightgown, pulling it over her head before she lost her nerve. She stood in the darkness of the room, moonlight the only thing allowing him to see her, and bared herself to him, naked except for a small pair of underwear.

He waited all of three heartbeats and in those fast seconds she could see everything pass through him: the realization of what was about to happen and what it meant. She closed her eyes to blink and he was in front of her hands clasping the sides of her head. His forehead leaned into hers, his breath already coming faster and more shallow.

“Darcy,” he whimpered as she grasped his waist, pressing her body into his. She actually felt him shiver as her breasts connected with his chest and she could feel him immediately surge against her thigh.

“Loki,” she said, her voice soft and very hesitant, “show me. Show me how much you love me.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think we can all agree this got out of hand. Warning: this is nothing but straight up sexy bits.

Darcy didn’t know exactly what she expected, but this was not it.

The second she finished whispering her request to him, Loki dropped his head and captured her lips in one of those kisses. ‘Those kisses’ were a particular talent of his; she could have sworn they were just a little bit unnatural. It was like entering a sound vacuum. There was nothing else going on in the world but his kiss. She whimpered as soon as he started because this was exactly what she had been needing, one of those kisses where he made her feel weak and heavy in his arms and like she just wanted to fall forward into him. She always fell and he always caught her.

She had a vague sense that he lifted her off the ground and she locked her legs around his waist. She could feel his cock pressing up against her ass and she considered just dropping herself down a few inches to move against him just so...but his kiss was turning into another one, even deeper and more demanding and she had to throw her arms around his shoulders and concentrate on not bringing them both down to the ground.

The next thing she knew they were seated on the bed, Darcy settled in his lap, and Loki gripped her face in his hands and pulled back reluctantly. She pulled away, she wanted to see his face, but he wouldn’t let her. Instead he forced her to keep her forehead pressed against his and he clenched his eyes closed.

Then Darcy felt a warmth moving through her that she had not felt in over a year. It wasn’t the heat of longing or desire, although she felt those too. This heat, that started where his hands held her cheeks and moved down through her whole body, making her skin raise in goose bumps as it went, was Loki’s magic moving through her. She had missed feeling this way, knowing that he was pulling her into his world. She had made him stop because it made her feel close to him, like she belonged to him. She felt her eyes water slightly at the idea of it and then she gasped because she couldn’t stop the pictures from flying through her head.

It was the two of them, lying on the couch and watching Anna trying to crawl. She could feel what he felt, which was calm and happy. He wasn’t distracted, he wasn’t plotting, he wasn’t...wanting anything or anyone else. They she saw them in the dark, in bed, clearly Loki was on top of her and they were moaning and writhing against each other and just the blurry image of their lovemaking made her shiver. The next second they were in some beautiful place she couldn’t recognize, laughing and relaxing in each others’ arms on a balcony looking out over a strange and different world. They were strolling through markets arm in arm and sitting by a huge fireplace reading books. There were meals with a little girl with dark curly hair and another baby at the table as well. They were in Central Park with two older children, each pushing one on the swings. Then it was just the two of them, walking on a beach, a long line of adults and teenagers and children trailing behind them.

When it was over Loki pulled back, his green eyes searching her blue ones. She stared for a minute, trying to come to terms with what he had just shown her. “Is that what you dream about?” she finally whispered, overwhelmed by his admission. He only nodded in reply and she could see the tiniest bit of wetness clouding his emerald irises. “You dream about me, about us, like that?” He nodded again. Darcy felt whatever weight she been carrying around in her chest grow even heavier. Whatever else Loki had done, all he really ever wanted was a family who wanted him.

And then she realized something that took all the weight away. She wanted the same thing. She had asked him to show her he loved her after all.

“That’s not what I expected,” she mumbled tearily, rocking her forehead against his and inching as close as she could in her lap. She tightened her grip around his shoulders and inadvertently pressed herself against his groin. He tensed in response, and she was very pleased to realize that he was still very hard.

“What did you expect?” He asked softly, smoothing his hand over her hair.

That made her smile. “I thought maybe you were going to...you know,” she smiled.

And then the Loki smile slowly appeared beneath her face. “I’m going to do that too,” he assured her. “I’m going to do that right now.” He wrapped one arm securely around her waist and Darcy giggled at the flying feeling she got when Loki threw her around in bed. As he settled himself on top of her and moved to capture her lips again, Darcy could feel very clearly that he had magicked away his pajama bottoms. It was just her and Loki with one little strip of cotton between them.

She had an idea of what he was thinking, but she decided not to worry about it as Loki slowly kissed her and caressed her until she was dripping wet and aching for him. But still, when he moved to tug her panties down her hips, she shrunk back from him, suddenly shy about all the time that had past and the fact that they hadn’t been together since she’d given birth.

She looked up at him and his gaze locked on the slight panic in her eyes. She was anxious about being with him. “Loki,” she whimpered, her voice desperate and full. He rolled to his side, bringing her with him and she moaned softly when she felt him hot and hard between her legs. She wished she was brave enough to just shift her hips and take him inside of her.

“I know my love,” he whispered, stroking her hair and pulling back to gaze into her eyes. She looked so beautiful all the time to him. And right now with her hair a bit messy and her lips swollen and plump and her blue eyes a bit unfocused and watery, she looked amazing. He had to kiss her a few more times.

“We can take all the time you need, I have plenty of ideas” he whispered and Darcy felt a shiver go down her spine. His voice was so sexy when he was plotting his dirty plans. He pulled her leg over his hip and slid his hand up the back of her thigh and his fingertips trailed against the crotch of her panties. “Do you want me to slow down?”

“Um...” Darcy couldn’t think. He was making her brain turn inside out, not to mention her entire lower body. She wondered if he could feel how wet she was since he was barely touching her.

“Maybe,” Loki continued, stroking her hair and taking over for Darcy’s wavering wandering brain, “just some kisses for now.”

“Yeah” Darcy squeaked, her eyes a bit glassy. She nodded her head a bit as he cupped her jaw and kissed her with a soft peck.

“But,” he continued, whispering against her lips, his voice getting a bit strained and hot, “they have to be very wet kisses and very soft.” He kissed her again, his tongue wisping out to lick her lip, and Darcy whimpered, her fingers gripping his shoulder. “I want you to feel relaxed, so you know how much I love you.” Darcy just moaned and closed her eyes and pressed her hips against his. “Really,” he finished, nibbling down her neck to that one spot that made her shiver, “think of this as something like long, hot, soothing bath.” By the time he finished his little speech, Darcy could feel him panting against her lips and his cock was throbbing hotly against her thigh. His abdomen was moving quickly with his breaths and she knew how badly he wanted it. She felt him nuzzle her cheek and then drop his mouth to her neck. She expected kisses, but what she got was a hot, wet pull of his tongue up her skin. It made her shiver and drip for him. It accented his point very well, and he remembered oh so very well.

“Loki,” she whimpered, pulling on his neck, kissing him so desperately he thought he might just lose it from knowing how bad Darcy wanted what he was suggesting. He shifted down on the bed, knowing that if Darcy got on top of him, he would be less likely to lose himself in the moment and push her too fast.

“Come on my lovely,” he whispered, pulling up on her forearms. Darcy felt like jelly and it took her a minute to figure out what he wanted. But when he slid down and laid on his back, reaching forward and pulling on her knee, she realized that he wasn’t talking about kissing her mouth. No, it wasn’t her lips or her tongue that was going to get a soothing bath from Loki.

She wasn’t sure why, if he knew she was nervous, he was requesting this. They hadn’t done this in a long time even before he left because usually by the time he was done he was so desperate to fuck her that he just climbed up her body and slid in. But tonight he was making sure he kept himself in check. She loved him even more for how much he wanted to take care of her. She also knew that he loved it like this, being underneath her, buried in her. It was wet and sweaty and dirty and he got off on it.

But something about sitting on his face felt especially intimate. For Darcy, it was because she had him sort of trapped, although she knew that was the part he loved about it. She stared him down, trying to say silently that she wasn’t sure and he just shook his head no and pulled her up. It was a test of wills and he was telling her that he was ready to submit. He watched her with a hot gaze as she shifted back on her haunches and pulled her panties off. Then she sighed shakily and straddled his shoulders, planting her knees on either side of him and looked down. He was already licking his lips and staring hungrily at the dark curls just out of his reach. He wrapped his hands around the back of her thighs and urged her forward.

“Come on darling,” he murmured, “I want you like this.” Darcy groaned softly and scooted forward, knowing this was part of their game. He told her he wanted it, she hesitated, then she got into it, then Loki went crazy. The first time they did this he came on his stomach without even being touched at all.

Once she was in the right spot, she lowered herself slightly until she was in range of him and then she reached both hands into between her legs and pulled herself open for him. Loki wouldn’t use his hands, he would grip her thighs in case she lost control and sat on him. That was her rule.

She felt him sigh against her and then dive in with a firm wet lick up the length of her slit. “Fuck Loki,” she moaned, immediately letting one hand go to grab his hair. His tongue lingered against her, pushing immediately between her folds, lapping up every drop of desire she knew had already accumulated there.

“Unearthly nectar,” he muttered, mostly to himself, and he tugged down on Darcy’s thighs, wanting more of her weight on him. She obliged him a bit, but was immediately lost in his prodding, coaxing movement, his wet tongue firmly stroking her lips and washing over her clit.

She shifted her weight forward slightly and Loki tucked his head. He settled his nose into the cleft of her mound and slid his tongue forward. He circled the edge of her opening softly with the tip of his tongue, waiting until he knew she was pulsing with arousal and dripping for him before he slid himself further into her for an all too brief moment.

“Loki,” she moaned, from above, “don’t tease.” She lifted herself off him slightly and he tugged her back down.

“You like it,” he murmured, taking a minute to stroke and squeeze her ass. “Come back my love,” he whispered, pecking the inside of her thigh. “I won’t tease.”

Darcy settled back down over him and moaned as he resumed his calming, sensual laps at her burning flesh. She could feel the tension building through her and it seemed to spark where ever his lips or the tip of his tongue landed. She pushed herself a little further down and he moaned and gripped her ass, pulling her against him.

“Oh fuck,” she groaned, suddenly remembering how much she had missed this in the last sixteen months. “Yes,” she gasped, her hands going to massage her breasts, which only made him growl beneath her, “lick it slowly Loki. It feels so good.” Suddenly she felt the tip of his tongue turn flat and wide and she felt a strong surge of arousal cover both of them and then she could hear the sound of Loki’s tongue moving over her. Both of them groaned and Loki’s tongue got greedy at the sound of Darcy’s desire for him rubbing against his own skin. She felt his mouth turn desperate, wet kisses and pulling on her with his lips, trying to get more of her into his mouth. Darcy knew it was crude, that he was essentially slurping her, but it turned both of them on.

She shivered as she felt him moaning beneath her and she heard the bed squeak a bit. She remembered that sound from what seemed like forever ago and when she looked behind her, she could see Loki lifting his hips into the air a bit, his cock bouncing to the pulse of his arousal. She smiled, thinking to herself that maybe he was fantasizing about fucking her.

The image made her roll her hips in a slow grind and Loki groaned and clenched his fingers into her thighs. “Oh god,” he moaned, “yes Darcy.” She rose above him a bit and looked down into his eyes, peeking up at her just beyond her dark curls. He was breathing hard, he was so turned on. He swallowed and kissed her quickly before catching her eye. “Do you want to ride my tongue like you ride my cock?” he whispered in a low, needy voice.

Now it was time to turn it up a bit. Darcy bit her lip and nodded, taking a minute to knead her breasts for him and moan. He grabbed her ass and pulled her thighs against him and Darcy felt him thrust his tongue up into her folds and then he stayed still.

She started slow, just barely swinging her hips front to back, loving the control she had over his tongue drifting across her lips. When she felt wet and aching, she slid back against his chin, positioning his tongue against the underside of her clit. He swirled the tip of his tongue quickly, letting her know he knew exactly what she wanted. Then she started to switch her hips, gasping as his tongue quickly pulled back and forth across her clit and her tender, inner lips rubbed against his mouth.

“Oh shit,” she groaned, “Loki, fuck!” She went faster and he held her tighter to let her know it was ok and she panted ‘more’ even though she was the one in charge. Loki was moaning beneath her as she felt herself steadily climbing towards her inevitable orgasm, but she didn’t want to cum yet. She wanted to linger in that place where Loki’s lavish kisses just drove her crazy and she dripped all over his face the way he liked it. She slowed and leaned forward, gripping the headboard. She pulled off of him and Loki groaned and gripped her ass, trying to pull her back down.

“Say it Darcy,” he called, his face totally obscured from her now.

“Loki...”

“I want to hear you say it. I love it when you say it.”

“Oh god,” she trembled, her heart racing at the intensity of it. She should have known it would be like this when they were finally together again. Her god-lover wouldn’t go for a quick screw or even a weepy tumble. He would always push her past her breaking point. So she decided to just give in. “Fuck me with you tongue Loki,” she whispered, smiling to herself and surprising him, rolling her hips and dipping her folds against his mouth. She positioned her opening above his mouth and he yanked her down to him quickly, sinking his tongue into her and thrusting firmly.

The sensation of Loki’s soft, strong tongue plunging into her entrance was something Darcy didn’t even know how to describe. It was one of the top three sexiest things he did. It made her so wet, she would have been embarrassed if Loki didn’t have to pause to groan about how hard she made him. Darcy felt, somehow, out of all of the things they did together, this was the most intimate. Just the idea of it was enough to make her cum. When they were apart, she finished by herself often just imagining Loki’s face at her center, greedily plunging his tongue into her, his moans almost as loud as hers. The first time he had done it, she just laid on her back and gasped, grasping his hair and completely overwhelmed by the sensation.

It didn’t matter that she was swaying because Loki’s hands moved firmly up her body, gripping her breasts as her hips started to move without her awareness of it. Now they were fully into it, the part where she fucked his face and moaned his name and mindlessly ground herself against him until she exploded. His response to her was so sure, she felt her walls pulse just thinking about how much he paid attention to her. He relaxed his tongue and started to lap, deep wet strokes from her entrance up to her clit, his gently friction against all her most sensitive flesh pulling her closer to the end. He roughly kneaded her breasts, giving away his own desperation and she felt him cry out as she tugged his hair firmly, pulling him closer against her throbbing aching flesh.

Darcy could hear herself starting to whimper in those high breathless notes that meant she was almost there. Loki jutted his face up, sucking her clit between his lips and letting her grind down on his chin so the pressure at her opening was perfect. His wet suckle of her little nub and his hot breaths reminding her that he was making her cum with his mouth was all she needed and Darcy cried out and jerked forward as she came on his face. Her thighs trembled against him and he desperately grabbed her ass, holding her against his face.

When she calmed down she rose off him and got her first real look at her smiling, pink faced, debauched man shiny and slick with her wetness. He was a complete mess and he looked utterly pleased and satisfied with himself. She crawled down his body and pressed her soaking folds against his abdomen as she leaned over to kiss him. He immediately gripped her hips and tugged her against him, and she knew he wanted to feel how wet she was.

“Was that what you wanted” she whispered against his lips. “You’re a mess.”

“Yeah,” he nodded breathlessly as she licked and kissed herself off his face. “You know I love it. I love you.” He caught her eye as she rose above him and Darcy scooted her ass back, finding his hard cock trapped against her.

“I know you do. I know what else you love.” She ran her hands up his chest before pushing herself up to straddle him. She lifted her hips and positioned her folds over the base of his cock. Then, holding his eye, she sat down and dragged her wet lips up the length of his shaft before nestling the tip of his cock against her clit.

“For Gods sake Darcy!” he growled, grabbing her hips as his eyes rolled back in his head. She ran herself over him a few times, washing him with her wetness, until she felt him mindlessly bucking his hips, trying to get inside her.

“We need a condom.”

“What?” Loki’s face wrenched in displeasure. He hated the Midgardian devise; it was humiliating as far as he was concerned. “Why?”

“Because your birth control magic doesn’t work.”

“It does,” he pouted.

She was not impressed with his response. “We have a baby.”

“But think of it this way,” he reasoned, letting his thumbs stroke her skin at her hips idly, perhaps trying to pull her against him a little harder, “it worked for the five months before you got pregnant.”

“It only takes one time.”

“But I have thoroughly investigated why it failed and I have amended it. It is perfected.”

“And it just needs a test drive?” she smirked.

“Exactly,” he smiled, slipping his hand up her thigh and letting his thumb slide over her mound. Darcy sucked in her breath and glared at him; he was not going to win that way. He held her gaze and stared back before sitting up to nibble at her earlobe. “And besides,” he murmured, “I don’t want to feel latex, I want to feel you. I cannot tell you how I have dreamed of the way you feel Darcy. So wet and tight…”

“But…” she protested, quickly losing her resolve as his lips nibbled and his hands massaged and his cock throbbed between her legs.

“I just want to be inside you my love,” he whispered, tugging on her earlobe.

“Ok, fine. But make it work.” God she gave up easy. Now that she’d dropped the last wall, all the gates were open. He pulled back and gave her a wide smile and she had to grin at how thoroughly sexed up he already looked. His hair was a mess, his lips were swollen, his skin was flushed, and he had that dark hungry look in his eyes. His hand moved from her ass to her belly and as he pressed his palm flat against her, she felt all that warmth again. That much magic that close to her lady bits had her immediately forgetting any and all consideration. She needed him, now.

So she moved, reaching between them to line him up just so and then sinking down as slowly as her already aching thighs could handle. It has been so long since she’d used any of her sex muscles that she had probably already overdone it riding Loki’s face. She would feel it for a few days, but with any luck, it wouldn’t be the only thing from that night she felt the day after.

Having him inside her again was enough to make her cry. She felt a tightness in her throat as he filled her and it only got worse when she focused enough to realize what it felt like for him. His arms around her waist squeezed her so hard she would probably bruise; his face was buried in her breasts and he moaned her name like he was lost in the wilderness. She could feel him shaking against her.

It was very hard to go slow on him, and she knew that he was already close and a bit desperate. He let her sit in his lap and rock against him the way she liked, starting slow and teasing herself on him before she let him take over and fuck her senseless. But she could feel him lifting his hips to meet her, so impatient for it after she made him wait.

“Loki” she whispered, pulling his face to hers and trying to get his attention, “what do you want?”

He didn’t even respond, he just lifted her and pushed her into the bed beneath him. She decided it was time to let him overwhelm her, even if as he started to thrust she felt a bit overwhelmed. He felt bigger than she remembered.

“Darcy,” he growled, pulling her legs up around his waist, “you feel better than I remember.”

She tried not to let the relief show in her face. She’d be lying to herself if she said she hadn’t worried about it. Of course she had; every woman who pushed a baby out worried about it. But Loki didn’t see to mind in the least. Every time an involuntary moan escaped from her throat, he went faster, harder, deeper, clearly unable to get enough.

He stayed close, leaving sloppy kisses wherever he could reach, slipping his tongue into her mouth and trying to match the rhythm of his hips. She recognized for a moment how unfamiliar it was for him to kiss her so much during sex. Usually, by this point he was putting some distance between them, throwing her legs over his shoulders or getting on his knees between her thighs. But this time she could feel his weight and his heart racing in his chest and hear every little desperate gasp and moan he couldn’t keep in.

It didn’t take long. She knew that after the fact that he would be somewhat embarrassed about this since he prided himself on his stamina, but before they could even switch positions he was reaching down and fumbling for her clit. It was a sure sign that he was closer than she thought. She just smiled because could she really blame him? She kept him simmering at a seven out of ten for months.

But she didn’t want to get left behind, so she hiked her legs up higher around his ribs so he could reach that one spot that she knew he remembered. He read her immediately and he pistoned into her deeper and harder all the while stroking her little tender nub. “Darcy” he groaned, and she closed her eyes and held his face close to hers. Now she couldn’t stop the little noises from escaping as he drove her towards the end with him. They were too much for him. “Darcy,” he gasped again, his voice getting desperate.

She lifted her hips against his, meeting each of his thrusts and it only took another few thrusts before she was able to whisper to him not to stop, that she was almost there. He was sweating, his eyes clenched, but he managed to nod and give her a few more powerful thrusts and then as she gasped and clenched around him, he let go and she found herself breathless, convulsing, and moaning under a the terrible weight of a groaning god.

He recovered enough to roll off her, but she made him stay close. They were quiet long enough to catch their breath before she cuddled into his waiting arms and kissed his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair and she felt a little laugh move through him.

“What?” she said happily, looking up into his smiling face.

“That was not my best,” he sighed, “but I’m learning to accept my faults.” His self-deprecating jokes only earned him a giggle, a smile, and a squeeze of his ass, as well as several very good kisses.

“It’s ok,” she laughed, “you got the job done.”

“I will make amends!” he shouted, rolling on top of her and dropping his mouth down to kiss her breasts.

“Ok,” she smiled, running her fingers through his hair. “You have four thousand years to do that.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still smutty.

“Good morning brother! To what do I owe the pleasure of a telephone summons from you?”

“Thor,” Loki said coolly, holding the phone away from his head as Thor yelled into the device. “I do not have time for pleasantries. I need you and Jane to do me a very large favor.”

“And what is that? Do you need us to shelter you? Has Darcy expelled you from the apartment?”

What? Loki thought to himself, no. Was Thor waiting for that to happen? Nevermind. “No, I need you to come and get the baby and take her to your dwelling for the day.”

“What? You want us to take care of Anna for the day?” Thor said, shocked by the request. He and Jane had certainly offered in the past and Darcy had always flatly refused, arguing she couldn’t be away from the baby. Jane, however, very much wanted to play auntie/mommy for a day and she was already standing in front of him, shifting her weight back and forth eagerly. “Is Darcy amenable to this? Wait, Loki, does Darcy know you are asking?”

“Of course,” he lied smoothly. “She is currently feeding Anna her breakfast and I would very much like you to be here to collect your niece as immediately as possible.”

“Of course we can come immediately, but what is going on?” Thor smiled as Jane raced around the apartment finding her shoes and keys and already talking to herself about plans for the day.

“Do not concern yourself.”

Thor shook his head and smiled. He did not sense any danger in Loki’s tone, just impatience. “No, you cannot call and ask us to take your child away for the day without an explanation.”

Loki sighed and rubbed his forehead. He did not want to have this conversation. “It is very important that Darcy and I spend the day together without interruption.”

“Has something happened?” Thor teased. Teasing Loki about girls had been fun for a thousand years. All he received in response was a long silence followed by an exaggerated sigh.

“Yes.”

“Brother...”

“Fine. We have...reunited. In the physical act.” Twice, Loki thought to himself.

“Ha-ha Loki! I am happy for you,” Thor boomed into the phone. “As Iron Man Tony would say you are a ‘dawg.’”

Even though Thor couldn’t see it, Loki let his face contort into complete disgust. “Please, brother, focus. I would very much like to cement this new shift in the relationship and there are some things we have yet to discuss so if you and Jane could please come in total haste I would much appreciate it.”

“Yes, discuss, I understand completely. I certainly remember how grumpy you are when you aren’t allowed the opportunity to engage in thorough discussion with the lady of your choosing. Although that can sometimes be dealt with by just talking to yourself.” Thor smiled as he heard Loki scoff on the other end of the phone. “If you know what I mean.”

“Of course I know what you mean you child,” Loki hissed. “We are not 200 years old anymore Thor. It is time to grow out of this nonsense.”

“Jane is putting on her shoes now,” he laughed. “She is very excited to have Anna for the day. We will fly directly.”

Loki ended the call without another word and immediately set about his tasks in the kitchen. He filled the refrigerator with Darcy’s favorite treats and made her a cup of coffee. As soon as they were alone he would make her favorite pancakes. He and Darcy would spend the day re-connecting, in every way possible, and by that evening he fully intended his family to be re-made.

 

Darcy hauled Anna onto her shoulder and began the process of eliciting a burp. Anna had eaten a lot and pretty quickly, so she was hoping it didn’t all come back up. Although at almost six months old, the spitting up was starting to slow down considerably, but this whole growth spurt thing threw her for a loop. She reached for her phone on the bedside table and groaned as she displaced the sheet she had precariously wrapped around herself. There was something kind of off about feeding her baby while she was totally naked and still a bit debauched from her overnight activities with her baby daddy. She could still feel the evidence of Loki’s activities on her inner thighs.

After adjusting everyone and getting a pretty big burp out of Anna in the process, she managed to lay her down on the bed and hit the speed dial on her phone.

“Darcy!” Jane’s voice burst through. “We are just down the street, we’ll be up in a second. I am so excited!”

“Excited for what?” Darcy called into the phone, hustling around the room to grab a clean diaper and some clothes for Anna out of the laundry basket by the far wall. She didn’t know why Loki could magic clean clothes into neat folded piles, but not be able to magic them into the drawers where they belonged. Nevermind, she scolded herself, she had stuff to do. She managed to find a robe to throw on and then she set about cleaning the baby up for the day, not even bothering to drag her across the hall to her own room.

“For our day with Anna! And I’m really happy that you’ve finally decided to take some time for yourself. It’s only been six months that I’ve been offering.” Darcy frowned. How did Jane already know what she was calling to ask her. Wait, not only know but practically be at the front door. There was only one answer: Loki.

Jane was yammering on about their plans and she could hear them hitting the buzzer at the entrance to the building. “Ok Jane,” Darcy called, out “I’ll see you in two seconds.” She grabbed a change of clothes and a stack of diapers. She picked up Anna and bustled out into the living room. Lokis already had the stroller ready, with the diaper bag and the insulated bag with several feedings worth of bottles ready to go.

“I thought you weren’t going to read my mind?” Darcy smiled, as she settled Anna into her little nest.

“I did not,” Loki smiled, stopping in his preparations long enough to admire Darcy’s bed head and still swollen lips. “But...we need the day. Badly.” He gave her a knowing look, trying to communicate that last night was really only the preview as far as he was concerned.

“Yes we do,” Darcy breathed, her voice telling him the same. She looked down at Anna, who was pretty happy with one of her plush rattles. “Are we terrible parents, sending our baby away so we can spend the day in bed?”

“No,” Loki said firmly, leaning over Anna and sliding a green hat over her fuzzy head. He pulled up her blankets, sure that the morning air was still cool. “She will love her time with her aunt and uncle and we are very kind to let them practice at parenthood.”

Just then an excited, rapid knock at the door made Darcy smile. “Keep telling yourself that,” she teased as she went to open the door.

“Darcy!” Jane exclaimed as soon as the door opened. “You’re not even dressed,” she frowned, bustling into the apartment. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?” She was immediately groping Darcy’s face, hand on forehead, frowning like the worry wort she was.

“No, I’m fine,” she noticed that Thor was hanging by the door, eyeing his brother with a knowing grin. Great, she thought, eye roll hardly contained. Loki already called his bro to discuss the salacious details.

“So then what is going on?” Jane asked, peering at Anna, who gave her a familiar smile. Jane smiled back and Anna reached up, ready for her play date. “I think someone is excited for her day with Auntie Jane and Uncle Thor,” Jane cooed, leaning over the stroller. “Yeah, what’s going on?” she remembered, standing back up.

“Nothing is going on,” Loki said impatiently. “Darcy and I have some things to do around the apartment and some errands that would be quicker and easier without the baby. And you have been begging to take Anna for the day for many months. Our interests coincide.”

Jane shrugged, satisfied with the response, but Thor just crossed his arms over his broad chest, his smile growing wider by the second. Loki scowled and shook his head. “Now,” he announced at both the other adults, suddenly concerned that they might not know what they were doing with his baby, “I have packed all of Anna’s necessities for the day. Her diapers and clothes are in the bottom of the carriage in the diaper bag. Here in the cooler bag I have several bottles prepared as well as two servings of her cereal and a cup of the sauce made from apples, but she should not be hungry for a few hours.”

Darcy stood by wordlessly and smiled as Loki took charge of the operation. He handed Thor a piece of paper on which he had written down approximately what times Anna should take a nap. Jane was vaguely listening, more interested in telling Anna about the adventures she had planned for the day, and she only slightly turned her head when the conversation turned towards Anna’s strength building regime.

“She no longer needs to spend extended time on her tummy, although she is trying to push up on all fours,” Loki instructed, “but you should lead her through several attempts to sit up on her own. Currently she is slumping towards her left side, resulting in an eventual fall. Thor, you must show her how to sit up straight.”

Darcy continued to laugh to herself as she watch this slightly ridiculous scene play out. Thor was no longer smiling dumbly about the fact that Loki got laid. He was completely serious, nodding along with Loki’s instructions and asking clarifying questions. Darcy was impressed with how seriously he was taking their babysitting duties. Jane was crossing her eyes and making silly faces at the giggling baby.

“Alright brother,” Thor said finally, clapping Loki on the shoulder, “worry not. I shall watch over her as if she were my own. No harm with come to my niece and she will have a fun adventure with her kin.”

“Ok,” Loki sighed, feeling increasingly nervous. He hovered a bit as they packed up all of Anna’s stuff and Jane took charge of carriage, wheeling Anna out into the hall. He felt Darcy’s arm around his back and he prepared himself to comfort her as he shut the door behind Thor. But when he turned, Darcy was smiling broadly at him and stepping forward to wrap her arms around his waist.

“Are you scared?” she whispered, standing up on her tip toes to kiss him lightly.

“A bit,” he admitted.

“She’ll be fine.”

“I know.”

“We’ll be fine.”

“Have I done the right thing?”

“Yes, we need to spend some time reconnecting. And it is really only eight hours. She’ll be back before dinner.”

“Ok,” Loki sighed, running his hands up and down her upper arms. “Are you hungry for pancakes love?” he asked, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.

“No,” she murmured, shaking her head and pulling on his t-shirt, “I’m hungry for you.”

Loki’s smile grew sly as he mentally returned to his major plans for the day: lots and lots of sex with Darcy.

“I will happily take care of any wish my lady has,” he murmured, dropping his face down and reaching for a kiss.

“Good,” Darcy gasped in between increasingly heavy kisses, “you can take care of it in the kitchen if you’d like.”

“Oh can I?” Loki laughed, gripping her ass in his hands and pushing her backwards to the kitchen counter.

With a flick of her wrist, Darcy managed to undo the tie on her robe, sending it swinging open and Loki suddenly found himself pressed up against a very beautiful and naked woman. “Yes,” she purred in his ear as he growled and attacked her neck, “and after, you can make me pancakes.”

 

“So how exactly would this work?” Darcy asked, spiking a pile of pancake with her fork and bringing it to Loki’s mouth. She smiled as she watched him happily take a bite and chew thoughtfully. So far, her reunion day with Loki was going very well. After he bent her over the kitchen counter and fucked her so hard she squirted on the floor (just for old times sake), he make her breakfast and now she was curled in his lap, alternating her own bites with feeding him his.

“Do you mean our living arrangements? Midgard versus Asgard?”

“Yes...but also how are you going to make me not grow old and die.”

Loki’s eyebrows shot up. He wasn’t aware that she had reconciled that particular piece of information completely. She hadn’t mentioned it since he fessed up. And he hadn’t shared with her his terrifying trip into his unseen past. “Is that what you want?” he asked hesitantly, watching the smooth skin of her throat as she chewed. He tightened his grip around her waist, hoping that adequately communicated how he felt about the subject.

She put the fork down and turned completely around in the chair, straddling him completely. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and let her forehead connect with his. “I want to be with you and Anna forever,” she said. “Or four thousand years, whatever. That’s a forever.”

“It is,” he nodded, feeling a lump of sorts form in his throat. He didn’t dare try to say anything else. She smiled and leaned down to give him a sticky maple syrup kiss.

“What?” she whispered, pulling back when he didn’t respond with as much enthusiasm as possible. He took a minute to compose himself and when he finally looked up at her she saw unshed tears in his eyes.

“I don’t think, Darcy Lewis, that anyone has ever loved me the way you do,” he said. “I cannot believe I have earned your forgiveness let alone your fealty.”

She just smiled at him and kissed him again before pulling back. “You’re wrong,” she said sweetly, “on both counts.” Then she reached behind her and grabbed her coffee cup, bringing it to her lips as Loki scoffed in shock at her rebuttal.

“What?” he sputtered, trying to balance his utter panic with a gnawing sense that she was just teasing him. He was never that good at being teased.

“First,” she started, putting down the coffee cup and running her hands over his chest, “if you want my fealty, you have to ask for it properly. Remember, I’m just a stupid mortal girl and we like that stuff.” His eyebrows shot up again because they had never discussed marriage. He was too afraid to broach it with her despite the fact that it was a foregone conclusion as far as he was concerned. “And second,” she hurried, her voice turning more serious, “you need to give credit where credit is due. I’m not the only person in this universe who loves you despite the dumb stuff you do. Your mother and your brother are real and so is the bond of your family, even if your father is a jackass. Thor was here when he didn’t have to be and now that I’ve met your mother, I’m not going to let you push them away. That has to change. They are part of our family.”

Loki sighed as he watched her put the coffee cup back on the table. “But” she continued, turning back around and pushing him back in the chair, “that doesn’t make what you said untrue. I do love you.” She planted her lips right in the center of his forehead before dropping another kiss on his cheek. She lead over to his ear and whispered the thing that he’d been waiting to hear for maybe his entire life. “I know I’m young Loki, but you and I are it as far as I’m concerned. I want more than my life with you, I want as much as you can figure out. I’ll do whatever it takes. I just want us to be together.”

He was glad her lips immediately found his because it stopped the whimper from escaping from his throat. He was a god for fucks safe and Darcy Lewis could turn him into a pile of sniveling goo on the kitchen floor. He was completely at her mercy.

Darcy’s kisses were getting a bit more insistent and he knew that meant that breakfast was over and it was time for the fun to continue. So he kissed her back with as much love and passion as he had in him and he also managed to make her robe fall open again. He didn’t know why she bothered to put it back on. When he felt her breasts press into his naked chest just as she moaned and slipped her tongue into his mouth, he surged hard in his pants and he could feel her smiling into their kiss.

“Again?” she whispered, nipping at his bottom lip.

“Always,” he breathed, pulling her against him so she could feel exactly how much he wanted her. “And you?” he asked, as he slipped his fingers in between her folds and his mouth attached to her neck. He groaned when he found her just as wet as he had left her an hour ago.

“I’m always wet for you,” she gasped through his magic nibbling up and down her neck.

“Always?” he murmured, more than eager to test the theory.

“Always,” she replied, reaching between them to squeeze him through his pajama pants. “Since the day you came home.”

“Darcy,” he groaned, pushing his thumb between her folds to massage her clit. He magicked away his pants and was about one second from simply lifting her up and impaling her on himself when she pulled back and shook her head.

“Take me to bed,” she moaned, throwing her head back for his mouth while she managed to tighten her grip around him. She leaned back in for a searing kiss and then pulled away again gasping. “You can fuck me in the kitchen, but I want you to make love to me in our bed. And I want it slow, Loki, for as long as you can.”

 

When Darcy next awoke, she could hear him whispering above her head. She smiled into his chest because he was clearly calling Thor to check up on him. As much as Loki was trying to be quiet to not disturb her, she could practically feel him wincing as Thor shouted into the other end of the phone. Apparently everything was fine.

Soon enough Lokis sighed and ended the call and Darcy decided it was time to be awake. So she squeezed her arms around him tighter and stretched her legs, groaning as he immediately slipped down on the bed until they were eye level once again.

“She’s fine?” Darcy asked, smiling because she already knew the answer.

“Yes,” Loki sighed, scooting closer to her until she was entirely in his arms again.

“But you couldn’t help it.”

“I couldn’t help it,” he smiled in return. He reached out to kiss her and Darcy spent a few moments relaxing in his arms and enjoying his worshipful kisses. When she finally back to pull back for a breath (Loki could kiss for much longer than her) she noticed the alarm clock over his shoulder.

“Oh my god” she gasped, “the day is half gone!” She bolted up in bed and Loki immediately grabbed her and pinned her back to the bed.

“So?” he murmured, dropping his lips to that spot behind her ear that make it hard for her to focus on anything but his body. He wiggled his hips until she spread her legs for him and she moaned when she felt him already hard against in the inside of her thigh.

“So,” she protested weakly, “you let me sleep for almost three hours. It is past lunchtime!”

“Again,” he whispered, his kisses moving down her throat to her collarbone, “why is this an issue?”

“Because we have stuff to do…”

He lifted his head and quirked his mouth. “What ‘stuff’?” he smiled. “The only thing I have to do today, my love, is you.” And then his sneaky grin disappeared into the flesh of her breast as his too-talented tongue went to work teasing her into a writhing state of oblivion.

“Loki…” she whined, pulling on his hair. He simply shook his head and continued to torture her with little licks and nibbles. His other hand wandered down her ribs before cupping her ass in his palm and hoisting her leg over his hip. He started to rock forward, his cock teasing her clit with every tiny thrust. She groaned and ran her nails down his back. The little bit of pain made him bite her in response and all of a sudden Darcy felt it ratchet up another notch between them. When he lifted his head to look at her, she saw only dark lust pouring out of his eyes. “Um,” she stammered, feeling his fingers dig into the flesh of her ass, “I mean, maybe we should get up and take a shower,” she suggested.

He simply shook his head slowly. “No Darcy,” he murmured, his voice lower than usual and definitely in the sex crazed-Loki octave, “if you want a shower, first you have to get dirty.”

“But,” she whispered, trying not to pay attention to the fact that he was growing harder between her thighs by the second, “I thought we already did dirty today.”

He just smiled. “That little puddle you left on the kitchen floor?” He rose above her and attached his lips to her throat again. This time it wasn’t little nibbles and laps of his tongue. It was teeth and pressure and way too hot for 1:30 in the afternoon. “Do you mean that lovely demonstration of our pleasure that you sent dripping down both of our thighs?”

“Yeah,” she breathed, trying to control her heart rate. She sort of loved it when he talked dirty. “That is what I was thinking.”

He shook his head and tutted her quietly. “No my love,” he continued, his mouth still working the now tender skin of her neck, “that wasn’t nearly dirty enough. I have something else entirely in mind. You have given me too much free time to think about what I want to do to you.”

Then, moving so quickly she almost couldn’t catch her breath, Loki had her on her stomach, her legs spread and he was entering her from behind. “Do you remember this Darcy?” he breathed into her ear as she moaned at the sudden, delicious feeling of him inside her. “You used to love this.” Goosebumps broke out across her back as he started to ride her slowly and his finger tips trailed down her spine. “You loved so many things about this,” he continued, the images of Darcy begging him pouring back through his brain. He grabbed her hair and pulled her head up so he could stretch himself over her back and kiss her. “You loved how I start slow until you have to beg me to go harder. You love how I feel like this.” She could only whimper in response because Loki in this position had always been able to find something inside her that was a mystery to everyone else, including herself. “You love how deep I get,” he hissed, bitting her earlobe, “you love how hard I get for you, how much control I have when I fuck you.”

“Loki,” she groaned, feeling the first of what she was sure would be several orgasms approaching, “fuck!” She knew he could tell it was coming because he kept going, plunging into her deep and slow until she clenched and burst around him.

“That’s it my love,” he growled as she shook beneath him. “Let it all go Darcy and we’ll work our way to the very end. Then you’ll have earned that shower.”

As Darcy panted through her orgasm and tried to catch her breath, she felt him shiver a bit and speed up, fucking her harder and kneading her ass in his hands. Yeah, she thought to herself with a smile, they would need a shower. They would probably need to wash the sheets too.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the final installment of the mid-story smut trilogy. We will then move back to the actual plot. And then some more smut.

“Still awake?” he teased, leaning over her to whisper a few kisses across her cheek.

“Loki,” Darcy whined, “what are you trying to do to me?”

“Nothing,” he shrugged, leaning away and running his hand over her bum. “Just making up for lost time.”

“You certainly are,” she sighed, lowering her head back into the pillows. Her body was beginning to ache from the workout he was putting her through. He was starting to lose whatever inhibitions he had about their reunion and the old Loki and his acrobatic, hedonistic appetites were re-emerging. Not that she minded; she just needed to do some yoga.

They were quiet for a minute, letting the air of the room cool their skin. Darcy was a bit sweaty. Loki’s hair was a mess from her pulling at it and rolling around in the sheets. They were also a bit sticky from the fact that Loki had indeed fulfilled his promise to get them both dirty and he was more than pleasantly surprised that Darcy had so willingly and smoothly slipped back into some of their old routines. It had crossed his mind that having the baby might have dampened something, or at least introduced some reticence into her mind about their mutually enjoyed perversions, but so far, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Ok,” Darcy sighed, pushing herself up on her elbows, arching her back in a way that made Loki marvel at her beauty for the thousandth time that day. “Shower. We need it and I earned it.”

“Agreed,” he nodded, his mind now turning towards what could be accomplished in the bathroom. He had many good memories of that shower.

Darcy eyed him suspiciously. She could see the wheels turning. “Are you planning on getting handsy in the shower?” she asked, not at all opposed to the idea but also starting to feel the tiniest bit sore. She might need to sit out a round. He simply gave her his naughty grin and licked his lips, his eyes moving hungrily to her heavy breasts pressed against the bed. “Ok,” she smiled, shaking her head, “in that case, I need to pump.” She moved to get out of the bed but Loki caught her by the waist and pulled her back against him.

“I would not,” he whispered, his breath tickling her skin, “be opposed to continuing our fun without you pumping.” His hands suddenly appeared from below and cupped her breasts, reverently assessing their weight in his hands. She was surprised to hear that he would be into that, but as he caressed her she realized she shouldn’t be surprised. This was Loki; he was an insatiable pervert. And it felt good, but it also felt like she needed to pump.

So she reached one hand behind and smacked his ass. “Easy does it space prince,” she laughed. “Don’t speed through all your kinks in one day. We’re gonna have to make sex interesting for a loooong time to come.”

He joined her in the kitchen as she gathered her equipment and then he gave her a kiss on the head and a slap on the ass as she went back to the bedroom. She really appreciated that he gave her some privacy while she did this; she didn’t really want him to see her hooked up to a suction cup.

Twenty minutes later he knocked on the door, just as she was getting up to bring it all back to the kitchen. “I’ll take that darling,” he murmured, reaching towards her, “why don’t you start the shower?”

 

As she stood under the spray of hot water, she started to feel the slightest bit apprehensive about when and how Loki would join her. She knew better than to think that she would be able to hear him coming and as she wet her hair and just let the water run over her body, she felt a sudden shift of energy that let her know she wasn’t alone anymore.

He was crouched at her feet, smiling lasciviously at her, and he immediately leaned forward to place hot kisses across her thighs. She squirmed as she felt him move slowly towards her center. He placed a wet, open mouthed kiss right at the apex of her thighs and then his tongue slid forward into the folds, aggressively lapping at her.

Then he growled and came to his full height, leaning down to capture her mouth in a searing kiss. “You taste like me,” he growled, pressing his hardening length into her hip.

“You like that, huh?” she asked, finding herself quite impressed that Loki had been erect for most of the last twelve hours and didn’t seem to be slowing down. She silently thanked the universe for sending her a god to be her lover. 

“Yes. Very much.” Darcy just nodded her head and reached for the soap. She was going to have to distract him because, despite what they only finished 30 minutes ago, Loki was ready to fuck again. She lathered a few suds in her hand and then past the bar to him.

“Wash me please,” she whispered in her most promising voice as she trailed her soapy hands over his chest. Yes, she was going to get clean, but it was going to be foreplay. His dirty smirk meant her diversion had worked and even if he could tell what she was up to, he didn’t seem to care.

She had thought he might speed through this part to get to the good stuff, but his hands were slow and firm and perfect. It was more like she was getting a massage with soap instead of oil. She relaxed her body against his, wrapping her arms around his middle and laying her head against his chest. Loki kneaded every muscle in her back and was particularly attentive to the top of her ass, which just also happened to be the part of her that got the dirtiest during their last round. She thought for a moment how nice it was to just touch each other and not talk, even if they both enjoyed Loki’s filthy mouth as well. This, however, was some how more comforting because of the silence.

When she was ready for more she sighed and turned around in his arms, leaning back into his chest and reaching behind her to pull his mouth to her neck. She sighed contentedly as his hands went everywhere and he nibbled and kissed all the spots on her neck and jaw that made her tingle. When her happy sighs turned to moans, she felt him twitch against her ass and she reached behind her to return the favor. Eventually Loki couldn’t take it anymore and she found herself pressed against the wall of the shower being utterly devoured by kisses. She kept up her firm, slow strokes and she felt his kisses get more impatient as he wanted more. When his hands finally fell down to grope her ass and lift her leg around his waist, she pulled back from his kiss and pushed him away.

“What?” he pouted, leaning back in for another kiss. She just smiled coyly and pushed him further away from her until she had enough room to crouch down in front of him. “Darcy,” he growled as he watched her gaze up from beneath him, her hand still working his cock.

“Yes,” she replied, her eyes full of her own kind of mischief. She leaned forward and slowly dragged her lips across his lower stomach, leaving kisses on his hips and all the little defined muscle she loved. She heard him try to stifle a whimper and she giggled, squeezing him harder in her hand. He shifted his weight and whispered her name again, wanting to see her beautiful eyes. So she looked up and smiled before she lifted him up enough that she could reach his balls and she batted her eyelashes before leaning forward and taking one in her mouth.

She got exactly the reaction she wanted. Loki fell forward, planting his hands against the shower wall, creating an umbrella over her so that the water ran down his back, and let out a litany of what she only assumed were Asgardian sexy time swear words. Whenever he was at a loss for the Midgardian phrase, he resorted to this jumbled muttering. He closed his eyes and leaned forward even more, resting his forehead against the tile as Darcy sucked and lapped and tugged them in her mouth, all the while stroking his cock and only slightly increasing the pressure. He loved it and she knew it.

When she changed tactics and started long hot licks up the underside of his shaft, his hand blindly fell down and groped for her head. He tangled his fingers in her wet hair and did no more, knowing full well Darcy’s boundaries around this particular act. She’d given him a speech not very long after they became lovers. He could hold her head or thrust but not both. He would, she insisted, feel bad if he choked her to death. And he learned soon enough that he vastly prefered letting Darcy follow whatever little imaginative whim she had in her beautiful head. She was intergalactically stellar at this.

He opened his eyes when he heard her whisper his name in her little teasing voice. “Loki…” she whispered, until she caught his eye. “What do you want?” she asked.

He bit his lip and swallowed hard, easing his hips forward and thrusting into her grip the tiniest bit. Nonverbal communication was key since he was having a hard time controlling his breathing. When he was in control during sex he commanded the situation, but when Darcy was in control, he practically fell apart. She smiled because of course she knew what he wanted, she just wanted to make him tell her. And she wasn’t going to give it up so easy. He had been insatiable all day; it was time to show him what she could do.

He thrust again and she simply shook her head, making a tut tut noise. She nibbled slowly up the underside of his shaft and he groaned as he realized she was going to tease him. Loki hated being teased, unless Darcy was on her knees between his legs.

Darcy had to admit that she loved Loki’s cock. It was the perfect size for her, big enough to feel substantial but not too big to be uncomfortable. She felt full when he fucked her, which was exactly what she wanted and he stretched her exactly the right amount. She was glad, however, that she minored in blow jobs as an undergraduate because he was no small project when it came to giving head. He liked it deep and slow and she briefly worried that she was too out of practice to make this good.

She loved to run his bulging head over her lips and leave little kisses against his slit. She loved to press her tongue against the underside of his head and work all the little nerves. She loved to push his foreskin down with her tongue and then stroke him slowly as she sucked on his tip. Leaving little butterfly kisses up and down his shaft made him practically jump in anticipation. She played to her heart’s content and Loki, after a few valiant minutes of trying his best not to interrupt her, always, eventually, gave in and moaned like a teenage boy.

She knew he needed more when his hips started to twitch and push out of reflex. He was watching her and panting, but she could see in his clouded eyes that he was too turned on to think clearly. Watching Darcy suck his cock had always been a weak spot for him because that was how they started all those months ago. During one of their intense and frustrating ‘make out sessions,’ as she called them, she surprised the hell out of him when she flipped them over on the couch and crawled down the length of his body before slipping her hand in his pants and literally blowing his mind. It was actually that very night, after she sent him home with a lingering salty kiss, that he decided that he would pursue Darcy Lewis until she was entirely and utterly his.

“Darcy” he groaned, as she returned to sucking his balls and stroking his cock, “I want you…”

“You want what Loki?” she asked sweetly.

“To...do it the Midgardian way.”

Darcy smiled; this was the first thing that Loki had admitted was superior about Earth. Apparently Asgardian women didn’t deep throat. Maybe they were too dignified, although Loki had insinuated that they were also more conservative in bed, and really, as far as she was concerned, dignity had nothing to do with it. Listening to the God of Mischief, Lies, and Chaos lose his shit over it was the undignified part and she fucking loved it. She started slow and with only a little bit of pressure, knowing that the head of his cock was now ultra sensitive and pretty worked up. As she sucked it gently she heard him moan and then felt a wash of precum trickle across the back of her tongue. She pulled back to swallow and smiled to herself. He was getting close.

Slowly but surely, inch by blessed inch, she took him deeper until she only need a few fingers to hold the base of his cock and she was able to swab his tip against the back of her throat. “Dear gods,” he moaned, slamming his hand against the shower wall as Darcy swallowed and tightened her throat around him. As Darcy pulled back and looked up at him, her eyes shining with pride, he could only pant and whimper at her.

“Are you getting close?” she murmured, stroking him slowly and trying to drag this out just a little longer. He nodded desperately and opened his eyes as he thrust into her grip again. She could feel him throbbing in her hand. Once more, she thought, and then I’ll finish him off.

As she went down a second time, Loki had to take deep breaths and think about Midgardians wandering aimlessly at the shopping mall eating junk food. Darcy wouldn’t like it if he came when he was all the way down her throat, but she was making it extremely difficult not to. He felt her slide one hand around his ass, and immediately she could tell by the state of the tension in his muscles that this ride was almost done.

“Loki,” she cooed again after she pulled back, trying to hold his gaze, “watch me…” She went straight away to finishing the job. She sucked and stroked and moaned, increasing her speed and pressure until he was gasping for breath. She cupped and stroked his balls until she felt them twitch in his hand and at the last possible second she pulled back and Loki almost collapsed as he watched her stroke him and let him cum all over her breasts. Then, just when it was ending and he thought it couldn’t get any better, she looked him straight in the eye and licked just one drop of cum off her thumb.

“I thought,” he murmured, trying to catch his breath, “that you said I couldn’t go through all my pleasures in one day.”

Darcy gave him a big smile as he helped her up. He immediately grabbed her by the waist and pulled her tightly against him, pressing her breasts into his chest. “That one was a freebie,” she murmured, leaning into nip at his bottom lip, “I know how you feel about my boobs.” He could only smile weakly in return because she was right. They were his Achilles heel as the mortals would say.

“Well,” he sighed, his heart rate returning to normal, “you will need another good washing and I am happy to oblige.”

“The hot water is going to run out.”

“No it isn’t,” he murmured and Darcy felt her knees go weak as his hand slipped around her ass and his fingers started to lightly stroke her folds. “But it is a good thing you’re already wet my love.”

 

“No, Loki, we need to talk. Keep your hands to yourself. You didn’t answer my question this morning.” Darcy pushed him away from her on the couch and slid to the far side, curling up against the armrest. If she had to physically separate them in order to have this conversation she would.

They had spent the rest of the afternoon lounging on the couch, eating whatever thing Darcy’s mind drifted towards since she was insatiably hungry after so much sex. Thank god her boyfriend could conjure any kind of food out of nothing. When they received a text from Jane saying that we would be back within the hour, they finally got up and got dressed. Darcy opened all the windows, convinced the apartment reeked of sex and Loki made sure all the evidence of their escapades was gone.

Now they were back on the couch, dressed for the first time that day, and discussing taking Thor and Jane out for dinner and drinks to thank them for babysitting. The conversation drifted to Asgard and then Loki got a bit needy again and pulled her into his lap and Darcy realized that they never discussed the thing they needed to discuss the most: their future.

“How will it work,” she asked again.

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, strategically moving to the middle of the couch. There was no reason they needed to be so far apart. “I honestly don’t know yet my love,” he said.

“How’s that now?” she asked. Loki was the magic master.

He looked at the floor and grumbled his response, reluctant to admit this particular thing to her. “I don’t quite know how to control the stone.”

Darcy narrowed her brow. “You don’t know how to use it,” she repeated. She took a deep breath, choosing not to get irrationally angry about the fact that he left for a year and he didn’t even know how to use it. She thought for a minute about her conversation with his mother; he must have been more desperate at the time than she realized, which meant that he had loved her all long. She had to remember that through every ridiculous thing he did.

“No,” he continued, “I do not and I’m afraid my texts have not been helpful. There is the least amount of information about this particular stone because its origins have been obscured by its power and it has been lost for millennia.” Darcy nodded for him to continue. “But I have experimented with it and I must admit, it unnerves me.”

“You experimented with it?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“The night that we kissed.”

She quirked her brow in confusion. “When were you gone?”

“While you slept,” he said hesitantly, knowing exactly what reaction he was provoking.

“Loki!” she cried, banging her hand on the cushion.

“I know,” he said, holding up his hands in acknowledge, “it was incredibly foolish. And despite all of the dangerous, thoughtless things I have done, I think it was perhaps that act that has convinced me not to toy and experiment with our lives.”

“Why?” she whispered, still upset but relieved to hear him admit that.

“Because the stone took me back and forth through time as if it had its own will and it was only its power that brought me back to you. I could not have controlled it. I will not take such a risk again.”

“Until we know how to use it,” Darcy finished for him.

He looked up at her, surprised to hear her still supportive of the entire endeavor. “You still wish for me to pursue this end?” he asked.

“Yes,” she exclaimed, crawling back into his arms. “You can’t offer me forever and then just give up.”

“I will not my love,” he promised, running his fingers through her hair and leaning in to kiss her.

Darcy wrapped her arms around his shoulders as Loki buried his face in her neck, taking deep breaths of her scent. “I mean,” she mused, “all that stuff you showed me last night, about us and going to Asgard and...those were all our kids and grandkids on the beach, right? You want to have a big family?”

He nodded his head and smiled. He wanted as many children as Darcy could bare to give him. He pulled on her hips until she was cuddled up next to him and then threw her legs over his lap. His hand started to massage up the outside of her thigh and Darcy smiled as he kissed her neck. She was glad she had put on a dress. She did it because they were going out to dinner, but if it gave Loki easy access, then two birds with one stone.

“Can I tell you why else I wish not to use that latex torture device?” he murmured, nibbling on her collarbone. She just nodded and giggled, loving the feeling of his large hand wrapping around her thigh.

“The idea of filling you with my seed…”

“It makes you hard,” she whispered, letting one hand ghost down to the crotch of his pants. She found him exactly as she expected to. She knew barebacking was particularly meaningful to him.

“Very.”

“Ok,” Darcy squeaked. She could practically feel it twitching through his muscles. “That’s ok.” Then she gasped as she felt his hand sneak around to the inside of her thigh and his thumb starting to drift back and forth over the center of her panties. It wasn’t hardly anything, but just his simple teasing immediately made her wet.

“And It isn’t just that,” he whispered, trailing his lips down her neck and leaving soft wet kisses across her skin, “I know that now is not the time, but someday, I want us to have more children. I want to make love to you when you are round and full with my child. I walk to lavish my attention on those amazing breasts when they are practically bursting with life. Gods Darcy…”

“Loki,” she whimpered as the pressure of his thumb against her folds increased and his kisses got a bit more insistent.

“I think about it all the time,” he whispered into her skin, “being with you forever, making love to you forever. I will never tire of this, of you, I will want you for millenia. I have never loved anyone the way I love you, I have never wanted to fuck anyone the way I want to fuck you. I want you all the time Darcy, forever.”

“Ok,” she squeaked, pulling back from him and laying back on the couch, “but we have to be quick.” Loki looked confused for one second until she thrust her hips up and her hands disappeared under her skirt and suddenly her panties were coming down over her ankles. She reached forward and grabbed his shirt pulling him towards her and as he settled down on top of her, she already had her hands in between them, pulling on his belt buckle to free him from his pants. She wrapped her legs around his hips and used her feet to pull him closer and even though it was rushed and they were both still clothed, Loki thought it was incredibly hot. Fucking Darcy on the couch as quickly as he could without even taking their time because they just couldn’t wait...he was in heaven.

She was whimpering that she needed him inside her as she struggled to push his pants down just enough to pull his cock out and there was barely even a second in between the warmth of his pants and the warmth of Darcy. She moaned as he eased himself into her, throwing her head back over the arm of the couch as one of her hands slipped down the back of his pants and grabbed his ass.

“Fuck Loki,” she groaned as he slid in all the way to the hilt. He smiled at her and leaned in for a kiss, but stopped abruptly as she clenched her inner muscles around him. He dropped his forehead into her neck and groaned loudly. “But I said be quick about it,” she gasped, lifting her hips against him. “We only have, like, fifteen minutes.”


	18. Chapter 18

“Brother,” Thor asked tentatively, watching Loki and Anna sitting on the floor playing with her blocks, “there is something important I need to discuss with you.”

“What is that,” Loki asked, trying to contain the irritation in his voice. He couldn’t help it. It was his default setting with Thor, even if he wasn’t irritated with him. In truth, Loki was blissfully happy and thoroughly enjoying his afternoon with his daughter. He had very little cause to be irritated, moody, or unsettled in the past few months. A regular schedule of orgasms had improved his mood immensely (and Darcy’s as well). He, for the first time, felt sated in his life and had only the tiniest desire for the most insignificant of mischief. Playing pranks on people at SHIELD was sufficient. But, there was the lingering issue of time.

“I know it has been several months now since you and Darcy resumed your relationship,” Thor asked, his voice clearly indicated he had hesitations in broaching whatever subject he was going to bring up, “and I was wondering if you had given any more thought to how to use the stone.”

Loki sighed and looked up. He had been avoiding this conversation because, in truth, he had thought about it and Thor would not like what he had been thinking.

“In all honesty Thor, I have,” he said defeatedly. “I wish to tell you something that I am quite woe to admit to you.”

“What brother?” Thor sensed that Loki was about to be honest with him, which almost never happened and was thus cause for concern.

“The stone is very dangerous and temperamental and...I do not know how to control it.”

Thor quirked his face. “What do you mean ‘temperamental’”?

Loki groaned, pulling a few more toys from Anna’s box for her to play with before hauling himself off the floor. He conjured two mugs of ale and handed one to his brother before flopping on the couch. Thor smiled, despite the seriousness of the conversation, because he was currently enjoying this ‘brotherly’ moment with Loki.

Loki was rubbing his face as he sloshed his ale around in though. “The stone,” he began, considering every word, “acts as if it has a mind of its own.” He pulled his hand away at the sound of Anna’s hands clapping. “Yes, darling,” he smiled, leaning over, “well done with the triangles.”

“She seems quite advanced,” Thor smiled, looking down at his niece.

“She is,” Loki said, puffing his chest out a bit. “She is barely ten months and she can match shapes and colors. She is also able to walk a bit if you hold her hands.”

“What do you mean the stone has a ‘mind?’” Thor asked, taking a long pull.

“I have only used it once…”

“You’ve used it?” he asked, surprised. “How?”

“The night it reformed I could not help my curiosity. After Darcy slept I tried to take myself to the night Anna was born, but it would not let me see it. Instead, it took me to the night I abandoned my love, the single biggest mistake I have ever made. And then it forced me to see the aftermath of my stupidity. I watched Darcy suffer, I watched her lonely and ill, I watched her cry.”

Thor just pressed his lips into a thin line as he listened to Loki’s voice grown increasingly anguished.

“I had no control over when or how it took me, I flexed around in time at its whim. And then, when I was most terrified that I would be lost somewhere among those threads, it dropped me back here, in our home at the right time and I vowed to myself that I would never be so reckless again.”

“I remember Thor,” he said, leaning forward, forearms on knees, watching Anna crawl to her puzzles on the other side of the blanket, “what it was like when I fell off the Bifrost. This drifting darkness reminded me of that, absent of any other force of being. Just you and nothing.”

Thor stayed quiet as he waited for the right time to speak. He had to judge Loki carefully. Finally, he leaned forward as well, not looking his brother in the eye. “You are afraid of it.”

“I am” he admitted, dropping his head.

“But you have never shown fear before,” Thor replied.

“That is not true,” Loki replied, his eyes glazing over. “I know what it feels like to be afraid, to be on the outside, to not know how to find your way back in. And now, there is too much at stake.” He waved his hand, disappearing his mug and strode quickly across the room, lifting Anna into his arms. He held her tightly and picked up her new favorite tiger toy before settling them both back on the couch. Anna cuddled into her father’s chest happily and smashed her face into her plush toy, letting out muffled screams of laughter.

“I too have felt fear,” Thor added, standing up and moving across the room to look out the window. Jane and Darcy had gone for a walk to pick up some things for dinner and to have their time for chatting. He peered down the street to see if they were on their way back. “I feel it mostly when I think of a life without Lady Jane.”

“I know,” Loki murmured in reply, squeezing Anna a bit tighter till she pushed back and squawked. She twisted and turned a bit until he let her down to stand between his knees and smiled as she gripped his pants and bounced happily on her wobbly legs.

“Loki, as much as the stone may be dangerous, what other options do we have? If we do not do something, every day is a steadfast march to the end.” Loki watched his brother’s face sink into anguish; the depth of Thor’s reflection startled Loki. He was not used to seeing how deeply his brother felt, even if, he begrudgingly acknowledge to himself, that was only because he wasn’t interested in seeing it before. “Lady Jane is older than Darcy and she does not yet want to interrupt her work in order to have children. My time with her, to have a family with her, it grows thin. It will be gone before we know it.”

Loki sighed and lifted Anna into his arms. He stood up and crossed the room to his brother, offering him the baby. Anna had a way of making people feel better. Thor smiled sadly as he lifted his niece into his arms and she immediately laughed and pulled on his hair. She always liked his hair.

Loki went to the table and sat down, conjuring the stone from its hiding place. He examined it closely; it appeared to only be a simple stone. There was barely even an emittance of energy from it. He could not fathom how the magic worked, or even how to control it. It had occurred to him a few weeks ago that it was far more ancient beings that him that had first cast these objects and put them into form. Without the help of others he would never have known how to use the Tessaract.

The Tessaract was like an addiction. It became an extension of him through his scepter and he needed to only imagine what he wanted and he could wield its power. That had not been the case with the time stone, although in his one experiment he had not been able to accurately imagine what he wanted because it wasn’t real in his mind. He wasn’t there.

That must be a key, he thought to himself. Perhaps he could move forward in time to an imagined place but not back. The past was the past; it was real and had already transpired and he could not alter it through the power of his mind alone.

“Thor,” he called, standing up and walking back to his brother, “is the power of the stone your greatest hope for Jane’s long life?”

“No,” Thor replied, shaking his head and tossing Anna into the air. He smiled at her delighted squeals.

“Not too high brother,” Loki hissed, feeling his insides clench as Anna’s head came within a foot of the ceiling. “Her mother will castrate me if you rough her about.”

“Ah, she is a tough little thing,” Thor replied, cradling her against his chest as she flung her little arms around his neck. “She is your child through and through. She can take a bit of roughness. I remember that even when you were an infant you withstood my games well enough.”

Loki rolled his eyes. Thor was always talking about when they were children. “Brother, the question I asked, please. What do you wish for other than the stone?”

“What I want most is for father to change his mind,” he replied. “We know how the apples work on mortals, there is the least likelihood that it will harm them. I do not wish to use the stone if we can accomplish this by proven means. But I do not understand why Odin is so set on his course.”

Loki turned the stone in his hand, the seed of an idea starting to bloom. He paced quietly up and down the hall a few times as Thor and Anna settled on the floor and proceeded to roll a ball back and forth. Loki stopped at the window just in time to see Darcy and Jane entering the building, carrying bags of take out for dinner.

“Thor,” he said, turning towards his brother, “the next time Jane works all night in her lab, come here directly. We must try an experiment with the stone.”

 

Three nights later, Thor felt he had his chance. Since Loki had said they would experiment with the stone, he had thought of little else. He wanted desperately to find a way to keep Jane forever, to make a life with her, to make her his queen. When she came home for dinner and said she would need to go back to the lab, Thor knew he had his chance. He quickly phoned Loki and agreed to meet him on the roof of his building at midnight after Darcy had fallen asleep.

Thor found Loki dressed in his Asgardian armor and already pacing heavily back and forth. He turned the stone in his hand, clearly lost in concentration. “What are you thinking brother?” Thor asked. He gripped his hammer tightly in his hand, not sure where they would go or what they would encounter.

“We must go back to our childhood,” Loki announced. “If we can take ourselves back and attempt to influence Odin’s mind, we may be apple to re-arrange our present. We would need not change his mind in our present if he had already changed it himself.”

“How will we…”

“Through mother. She must work on him. But we cannot go back before you were born, we can only go to something one of us actually remembers. That is the limit of what I think we may be able to accomplish at this point. So focus Thor, when is the first time you remember mother and father discussing his disdain for those of other realms?”

“I think perhaps when we were learning to spar,” Thor said warily. It was difficult to pinpoint such a thing in the past.

“What do you remember him saying?”

“I remember...forgive me brother...I remember him saying that the Jotun were monsters and that the Aesir were superior in every way, gods and masters of the universe. I can hear it in my head.”

“He said something like that many times,” Loki said coldly. He did not know how to forgive Odin for his own twisted life.

“Yes, I can remember him saying it to mother actually. You were not there, it must have been earlier or I was smaller. I was in her room on the floor…”

“Concentrate on that brother,” Loki said firmly. “Think on it as hard as you can.” Thor closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could. Loki held back a smirk; Thor’s concentration face was as ridiculous as it could possibly be. He wasn’t sure how long his brother could hold it, so he had to move fast.

First, he cast an invisibility and silence spell over them. He was unsure where they would arrive, if they even made it to their destination. Then he placed the stone in Thor’s hand and closed his own over it. “Concentrate brother” Loki said again and then he began his own work, moving his own magic into Thor, concentrating on their connection.

Suddenly the air felt warmer and when Loki opened his eyes he realized they were in their mother’s chambers on Asgard. The light was low, it was evening, and the fire was blazing in the center of the room.

“Thor” he hissed, looking around quickly to assess their situation. Frigga was in her chair by her weaving, but she was stitching a cloth together. It looked like a child’s tunic. There was a blonde boy at her feet, playing with the same set of small Asgardian warrior toys that Loki remembered well. “Is that you?”

“Yes,” Thor said, his voice a bit dazed. “We are here.”

“Yes,” Loki nodded, looking around, “but where is…”

Just then the door to Frigga’s chambers flew open and Odin strode in, guards following close on his heels. He had a bandage tied around his head, covering what Loki immediately realized was his newly wounded eye. He had lost the eye in the battle with Laufey. He held a small pile of blankets in his arms. He felt Thor’s grip on his hand tighten, he had forgotten their connection. He dropped his hand immediately, caught completely unaware that this was where Thor would take them.

“Frigga my queen,” Odin bellowed. Frigga immediately dropped her sewing and ran to Odin, her hand grazing over his scarred and wounded face.

“My king,” she gasped, wiping dried blood off his cheek. “You are injured.”

“Yes,” he nodded, turning towards the guards slightly, “we have lost many good warriors. But the Jotun are subdued. Laufey is vanquished and the cask is locked in the vaults of Asgard.”

“I am glad,” she smiled, but both her sons could tell that she remained alarmed. “And what else Odin,” she said softly, knowing full well what her husband intended.

He thrust the blankets towards her with a grunt. “Take this child,” he said with disdain, “and disguise him as one of ours.”

Frigga accepted the bundle and slowly pulled away the blankets to reveal baby Loki, asleep despite the trauma of the day.

“Odin, how did you come by this child?”

“He was abandoned on the field by his monster of a father. He is too small to be king of the Jotun, but he has some power. I sensed it in him. I brought him back for safe keeping. If he were to be raised by another force, he could be dangerous to us.”

“He is a baby, Odin. He is not dangerous.”

“He is a Jotun,” Odin spit, “he is now and will always be a half frozen savage.” Loki startled, taking a step back. Thor’s mouth set into a thin line.

“With the proper care and love…” Frigga began.

“No,” Odin said, cutting her off. “There is nothing you can do for him but try to control him. He will never be Aesir, a god and master of the universe. At least not by strength. He cannot become something he is not, something contrary to his nature. He is an animal, not smart enough to understand peace, only brute enough to understand war.”

Frigga sighed and turned around, placing Loki in a cradle by her chair that had some how magically appeared. “Odin, please, I wish you would not say such things around Thor. How is he to grow up to be a great king if he cannot respect his enemies. If he cannot wish for them to be something other than his enemies.”

“The Jotun will never be allies,” Odin sneered. “From this day forward they will be indentured to Asgard, living out their own hateful lives on that icy rock. They have tried to wipe out the Midgardians, they have attacked Vanheim, they are unworthy of acknowledgement as a realm unto themselves.”

Thor quickly glanced at his brother. He had never seen Loki’s face in as much anguish as it was in that moment. He knew his father was filled with disdain for other realms, that he looked down on them from the high seat of his throne, but he had forgotten how much vitriol Odin was capable of. To know that he was speaking of his brother, who was closest to him amongst them all, made Thor sad and furious at the same time.

“How would you have me disguise him then,” Frigga sighed, clearly choosing not to battle Odin in that moment.

“Make him appear Aesir,” he replied. “We will raise him as a second son, never equal to Thor mind you, he will always come second. He will be useful some day, even if we must feel the burden of his presence for an unknown time.”

Thor gasped. He had never believed Loki’s accusations that Odin loved him less or treated him differently. He had always believed that, while biased, Odin was ultimately magnanimous.

“Odin, do you intend me to raise a child that you have already decided not to love,” Frigga asked, her voice betraying her disgust at his proclamation.

“Yes,” Odin said, striding to stand in front of her. “You will do this, we will keep up the appearance. Some day they will want their prince back and when they have him they will find him Asgardian in mind even if he is a runtish Jotun in body. And then, we will no longer struggle to subdue those monsters.”

Odin turned and stormed from the room, pausing just before he threw the door open to cast his gaze towards the corner of the room where Thor and Loki stood masked. As the door slammed behind him, Thor watched his four year old self stand up and run to his mother’s skirts, clearly alarmed by the storm that was his father. Frigga held Thor with one hand and then bent over the cradle and ran her other hand over Loki’s head and he immediately assumed the pale skin and green eyes that she projected onto him.

Thor looked warily at Loki. His brother was clearly about to explode in anger and pain. He was seething, sweating, his eyes turning black with rage.

“Thor,” he heard his mother whisper, “this is your baby brother. We will keep him close and in our hearts always. His name is Loki.”

Thor could feel his brother’s rage and for the first time, he felt his own surge in his chest. It wasn’t just that Loki had been lied to. He could now only imagine the subtle ways in which Odin had put him down over the years. A thousand years of dismissal and abuse could only result in one thing. Now was not the time to show themselves; Loki was too raw and this was not the place in time they were meant to be. He saw Loki’s eyes snap towards the door and he immediately stepped in front of him. He grabbed his hand, holding the stone tightly between them and blocked Loki’s way.

“Brother,” he said, trying to catch his eye. “Darcy. Think of Darcy. Think of Anna. Go to them.” Thor saw his attention shift and felt immediately the rush of warmth of Loki’s magic as his love for Darcy and his daughter flowed through him. Thor glanced one last time over his shoulder at his mother and found her looking straight at him. The next thing he knew, he and Loki were again standing on the roof of the apartment building.

Thor and Loki looked around quickly, hoping no one had noticed that they just appeared out of nowhere. Thor breathed a sigh of relief, but Loki narrowed his eyes and grabbed his brother’s arm in a tight grip. There, sitting on the edge of the rooftop, was a large raven. Loki scowled at his brother.

“The Allfather knows.”


	19. Chapter 19

“Do you think they had a fight?” Darcy asked, standing next to Jane at the kitchen counter while pulling wine glasses out of the cupboard.

Jane narrowed her eyes at Thor and Loki, who were huddled by the window murmuring to each other with cross looks on their faces. “I don’t think so,” she replied, “they aren’t fighting. They look like they are conspiring with each other. But it’s like, angry conspiring. Like not, let’s take the girls out for steak kind of conspiring.”

“Yeah,” Darcy nodded, “something is up. Not to go all TMI on you, but Loki and I haven’t had sex in three days. I started worrying after 24 hours.”

“Really?” Jane asked, not even trying to hide her surprise. She wouldn’t worry after 24 hours. A few days, maybe.

Darcy just shrugged. “He’s got strong appetites. But the point is that right now, those appetites are not for me. And that’s a problem because when Loki shifts his focus to unknown things, bad stuff happens.”

“Yeah,” Jane sighed. “Is he coming to bed with you? Or does he stay up…”

“Brooding and pacing.”

“Exactly.”

“He also sits in Anna’s room and watches her sleep. He thinks I don’t know, but I do. He’s not the only one with spidey sense around here.”

“And when he does come to bed he doesn’t sleep.”

Darcy shook her head in agreement. “Thor too?”

“Thor too. What changed?”

“They went off galavanting the other night,” Darcy whispered. Loki and Thor now appeared to be arguing, but in extremely hush hush tones. Every once in a while Loki threw a glance at the kitchen and she quickly pretended she wasn’t watching him, but she knew that he knew that she was.

“When?” Jane asked, surprised to hear that Thor and Loki were hanging out. “I thought Loki stayed home with you every night?” She couldn’t help the teasing that inched into her voice. “I thought he liked to cuddle.”

“Usually he does. He’s very clingy after sex. If he wasn’t a fucking god you’d think he’d had it rough in high school, although I guess he did kind of have the Asgardian version of that.” Darcy poured herself and Jane each a very generous helping of Malbec. Their simultaneous sips were well timed as their men turned back towards the window and crossed their arms, their brows furrowed in concentration. “So yeah,” Darcy continued, “I woke up at like 2am and he wasn’t in bed. I figured he was in with Anna, so I checked but no. Then I went into the kitchen to get a drink of water and he and Thor came stumbling into the apartment.”

“Were they drunk?”

“No, but they were rattled. Thor got all ‘blah blah I shall go get Lady Jane at the laboratory, and Loki said he wanted to take a shower and I fell asleep before he came back to bed.”

“You didn’t stay up to interrogate him on why he and his brother were out causing trouble at 2am?”

“Hey, I’m still nursing. It makes me tired. And then, next morning, boom...no sex. He was all in his head,” she motioned, indicating the swirling cloud of doom settling over Loki.

But Jane was somewhere else. “You have sex in the morning?”

“Every morning. And every night. And sometimes while she’s napping.”

“Jesus. You know that’s unsustainable. And its only because you two don’t have to go to work.”

“Sometimes he goes into SHIELD with Thor,” Darcy protested. “but Loki has magic, he makes it work. Come on, you and Thor don’t play hide the pickle before you truck off to the lab?”

“I don’t like this,” Jane said, chewing her bottom lip and ignoring Darcy’s dirty mouth. “I feel like he’s keeping something from me. He never keeps anything from me.”

“Welcome to my world,” Darcy smirked. Although, she thought to herself as she eyed the back of Loki’s head, he should know better by now. “Come on,” she said, throwing her arm around her friend’s shoulders, “let’s drink wine.”

 

“They suspect,” Loki hissed, watching as Darcy and Jane slowly turned away from their post at the kitchen counter and sat at the table.

“How could they possibly?” Thor asked. He nervously leaned forward and eyed the sky.

“Stop that,” Loki groaned, “he’s not going to just come down with an army.”

“He could if he wanted to,” Thor replied, “you know that. He doesn’t even need an army. I still think we should go up and confront him. This is untenable Loki. We cannot use that stone again. Its magic is evil, just like the Tessaract.”

“No, it worked exactly how we wanted it to. We just did not want to see what it showed us.”

“But I wasn’t even concentrating on that moment!” Thor hissed, utterly frustrated by what had occurred. “It was the words. It must have been…”

“It must have been your first memory of his hatefulness,” Loki sneered. “I read in one of the baby books that children as young as three can act on their parents hatred, they can identify someone else as different and strange and bad.”

Thor shook his head, wrestling to reconcile the hard truths he was learning about his father. At times he had thought him a bit of a dinosaur, but never hateful or cruel. What he had seen upset him greatly, and made him feel as if there was much wrong to right in the kingdom of Asgard. It wasn’t that Loki should be excused for all he had done, but Odin shouldered the blame as well.

“Look,” Loki sighed, hoping to end the conversation and continue their dinner, “I think the best approach is to just wait and see what he does.”

“But you are not forbade from…”

“I know. I am not forbade from the use of these relics. Nevertheless, Odin would be very angry to know that I have reassembled the stone and could harness its power.”

“Except we cannot,” Thor said plainly.

  
“We cannot,” Loki agreed, his eyes setting into hard edges as he gazed at Darcy. “We must find another way.”

 

“Hey, Mr. Moody, what’s up in there?” Darcy flopped down on the couch next to Loki. It had been a long evening; dinner with Jane and Thor, bath night for Anna, a bit of a fussy bedtime. He’d been silent and splayed on the couch since Anna had her last evening nurse before bed. Darcy ran her fingers through Loki’s hair and scratched the back of his scalp; it always relaxed him. His moaned a little and closed his eyes, easing into her touch. She leaned forward and kissed him lightly and then he felt a familiar thrum move through his body. He hadn’t made love with Darcy in days. He had been too preoccupied with the time stone and Odin and what possible danger awaited them all. He had ignored his mate and her needs, and as he was now painfully aware, his own needs as well.

“Thor and I have been working on the problem with the stone,” he sighed, needing to get it off his chest so that he could relax and spend time with her. It wasn’t even the problem of Odin, it was trying to hide it from Darcy. When would he finally learn to be honest with her. “We did some experimenting with it the other night and it was...difficult.”

“Difficult how?” she asked, trying to hold back her irritation that he messed around with black magic again without telling her.

“It showed us things we would have rather not seen, although I admit I do feel somewhat relieved in having seen it.”

“What was it?” She leaned into his side and he threw his arm around her shoulders, tugging her close. He was silent for a bit until she nudged him.

“We saw the night Odin brought me to Asgard.”

Her eyebrows shot up but she said nothing until he didn’t continue. “And...I don’t want to have to drag this out of you. Fess up.”

“And it was as bad as I sensed it might have been,” he sighed. “I feel better knowing I have not invented his hatred in my head.”

“Oh Loki, I’m sorry,” she whispered, cuddling into him. He tightened his grip around her. “I wish I could make it go away.”

“I’m afraid that is not possible.”

“No,” she said, pulling back and cupping his face in his hands. “It isn’t possible to make the things that hurt us just disappear. If that was the case you would have magicked it away years ago. You just have to learn to live with it.”

“What is your Midgardian colloquialism? Easier said than done?”

“Yeah,” sigh sighed, tightening her grip around him again. He nuzzled his face into her neck and took a deep breath, trying to relax in the smell and warmth of the woman he loved. “But you know how you start?” she continued. She felt him shake his head against her. “Remember that I love you,” she whispered, kissing his forehead, “and so does Anna. And, most importantly, remember that you earned our love because you deserve it. You made me love you.”

Loki let out a slightly anguished sigh and tightened his arms around her even more, pulling her further into his lap. He knew Darcy was right; he had to let his father’s weaknesses belong to Odin and not take them on himself. But that too was easier said than done.

“I have an idea,” she murmured, and Loki smiled slightly as he heard the grin creep into her voice.

“What is that,” he replied, feeling pretty comfortable buried under Darcy on the couch. He groaned when she pulled away, stepping out of his arms. He watched her walk around the side of the couch and his eyes widened as she took off her shirt and dropped it behind her. Just before she disappeared into the hallway he heard her pants hit the floor. He hauled himself off the couch to follow her, stopping to collect her discarded blouse, and he rounded the corner just in time to see her bare bottom disappear into the bathroom and her hand extending backwards to chuck her bra out into the hall. Then he heard the bathtub start and he immediately felt a sense of relaxation. Just the idea of a hot bath with naked Darcy made him feel a hundred times better. He decided to leave her clothes where they were.

 

Five minutes later, Darcy was relaxed back against his chest and was attempting to turn off the taps with her toe. She could just barely reach it since Loki had magicked the tub to be big enough for both of them. She smiled remembering so long ago when they had first started taking baths how outraged he had been at the size of her bathtub. She tried to explain that it was a normal apartment bathtub for an average size human, but he seemed to almost take it personally. Since then, Darcy had a great bathtub.

When she finally succeeded with a ‘yes!’ under her breath, she heard Loki laugh behind her and then his arms pulled back around her waist and her shoulders and she cuddled back into his arms. They stayed silent for a time, relaxing in the hot water, and Darcy ran her hands up and down his legs, kneading the muscles until they were a bit more pliant. Loki was almost always wound tighter than a spool of thread, but every once in a while she could get him to let some of it go. It was also a bit affirming that every once in a while she felt his cock twitch against her lower back and she knew that he just enjoyed having her hands on him in any way. She enjoyed touching him just as much; if he went looking for the evidence he would certainly find it.

When she was done, she twisted in his arms enough to reach up for a slow kiss. “Do you want me to do your back,” she murmured, leaving little kisses across his jaw. He shook his head and sighed, content to relax in the water, and Darcy felt the temperature of the cooling water raise the tiniest bit. He was happy in the water. So she turned on her side and laid with him, resting her head against his shoulder and wrapping an arm around his waist. He kept her wrapped in his arms and they fell again into a happy silence as they rested, Darcy trailing her hand up and down his side.

Eventually the little twitches of him against her lower body made the three days of no attention suddenly feel like three months. So she let her hand wander down to what she wanted most. He already had his head thrown back and his eyes closed, but she watched his face tense as she wrapped him tenderly in her palm. When she gave him a firm squeeze, just the way he liked it, his lips parted and his mischievous little tongue darted out quickly. She loved that tongue. She also loved feeling him grow harder and thicker. She moaned as she turned her head to leave a love bite on his skin. Just touching him and listening to their noises turned her on.

Before long she was stroking and coaxing him to full-Loki and he was gripping her face as he kissed her deeply. She gasped as he lifted her into his lap and, as her hand kept up her work below the surface of the water, Loki pulled her forward until he could kiss and lick and bury his face in her breasts. One of his hands drifted down to grab her ass and with an almost guttural moan he urged her forward, doing his best to suggest that she mount him in a hurry.

“Darcy” he groaned, “please darling,” but she was already moving forward, straddling his hips and tucking him into her center. They both moaned she sat down and as he held her as tightly as he could, he tried to remember exactly what she had said. He earned her love and, despite everything, he had it now and forever.

 

At 3am, Anna let out a piercing howl that roused both her parents from a deep sleep. After their bath, they had returned to bed and made up for the three days they lost to Loki’s worrying mind before falling into a sex-drunk sleep that could shame the dead. But Anna’s escalating whimpers over the baby monitor could break through any cloud of sleep. Loki even claimed that he could feel it before she started crying.

Darcy was out of bed and trying to find something to throw on while Loki was already out the door and magicking on pajama bottoms. Anna almost never woke up in the middle of the night anymore. In fact, she hadn’t done it in weeks, more than a month at least, so her cries immediately provoked alarm in her parents. Darcy felt a little bad tip toeing to her daughters room in a short nighty that came halfway to her knees with no underwear on and dried cum on the inside of her thighs. But, so be it.

Loki was at her crib, cradling Anna in his arms who was clinging to him in terror and still crying. Loki shot her a concerned look; this was clearly more than a normal Anna sleeping problem. She kept shivering and huddling into her father, trying to bury herself in his chest, and gasping her little ‘Da’ noise that they knew meant daddy. Darcy sniffed the air and walked around the room. It wasn’t cold, it was August, and although the window was open there wasn’t any weird smells or weird noises. Loki had magicked the outside of Anna’s window so all she got were sweet sounds and pleasant air. It was like they weren’t even in the city. But something felt off.

Darcy came up to her partner and baby and ran her hand up and down Anna’s back. She wrapped her arm around Loki’s waist and leaned her head against his shoulder, looking into Anna’s eyes and whispering comforting words as Loki kissed the top of her head. They stayed like this until she had calmed and when Loki finally, and with great hesitation, tried to put her back in her crib, she wailed and clung to him.

“Should we bring her into bed with us?” he asked. Anna raised her head and with her big teary eyes, turned and reached for her mother. Darcy took her and held her close, Anna moldling herself to her mother’s body in the way that had brought her comfort her entire life.

“She’s trembling,” Darcy said, suddenly afraid. Loki nodded, equally concerned, and wrapped both his arms around his girls. He held them tightly, hoping the warmth and pressure of her parents’ bodies would calm her down.

Suddenly, he heard a noise that struck absolute terror through him. The sound of bird, cawing loudly, came from behind them. Darcy lifted her head, muttering ‘what the fuck,’ at the sudden disappearance of the screen from the window. There on the ledge, was a large black bird.

“Darcy,” Loki said, his voice hard, “hold onto her as tight as you can.” She felt his arms tighten around her immensely, practically crushing her and Anna against him.

“What?” she asked, not understanding what was happening. She turned to look at him, but his gaze was set far away and the next thing she knew, they were falling through darkness.


	20. Chapter 20

Darcy closed her eyes and tried not to scream. She held Anna so tight she felt her squirm against her, her little fists curling into the flesh of Darcy’s arms as she held onto her mother. It didn’t help that Loki had both of them in a death grip. But the falling kept happening. She counted in her head, one second two seconds three seconds. And then, it stopped, but they hadn’t landed. There was just suddenly something under their feet. The second she opened her eyes, she knew where she was.

Loki immediately relaxed his grip, catching her bewildered stare. “Do not fear, my love,” he whispered, before turning his back to her and pushing her and Anna behind him. Suddenly he was wearing Asgard clothes, but she and Anna were still in their pajamas. And no underwear, Darcy thought to herself. Fuck. And also Anna’s diaper felt a bit squishy. Double fuck. She didn’t suppose they had Huggies on Asgard.

She had one second to look around at a massive hall filled with guards and gold and a few Asgard looking types standing around. She saw Thor and Jane huddled in one corner, Jane looking just as terrified as she felt and also in her pjs, which were not as revealing as Darcy’s. And then she heard the sound of a staff striking stone echo through the hall.

“Father,” Loki sneered, bowing slightly in front of her.

“Today you wish to call me father!” A hard voice came from the front of the room. Darcy stood on her tippy toes and tried to peak over Loki’s shoulders. Damn, why was he so big. But she could see Odin on his throne at the front of the hall. He looked about as terrifying and ridiculous as she had imagined. She had this idea of Thor and Loki running around in a world that was more or less like a comic book and it wasn’t far off. Except there was nothing entertaining about the look on Odin’s face.

“I do not necessarily wish it,” Loki said, his voice sliding into a sarcastic tone she was very familiar with, “but I did not wish to be here in the middle of the night either. Against my will. So, since today is all about what you want, I thought I would concede this small point. It does make you feel justified in your actions, no? Still teaching your boys their lessons?”

Oh Loki, Darcy thought to herself, stepping into his back and pulling on his shirt, don’t poked the bear. He turned towards her slightly in an attempt to comfort her and Darcy shot her gaze across the hall to Frigga.

Frigga was weighing the situation. Odin was not yet paying attention to the presence of either Darcy or Anna. Suddenly Darcy was wearing pants and a shirt and she silently tried to send her sort-of mother-in-law a pleading thanks.

“You think I’ve called you hear to teach you a lesson?” Odin bellowed, scraping his staff against the ground. Darcy saw that horrible black bird perched behind him and she instinctively stepped even closer to Loki.

“No,” Loki sneered, “I know exactly why you’ve called me here and I have no pretense that this is about lessons.”

Odin leaned forward. “Then where is it.”

“Hidden.”

“Bring it forth.”

“I will not.”

“Then you go to the dungeons.” Odin signalled with his staff and immediately guards came forward towards the trio. The second one of them reached his hand towards Darcy, the man found himself flying back across the hall and landing with a thud against the far wall. Anna started to whimper and Darcy swallowed hard, willing herself to be strong for her daughter since it appeared as though they would soon be without her father.

“Take them to their quarters,” Odin yelled and Loki immediately rounded on the guards that came towards Anna and Darcy. The guards stopped in their tracks and Darcy felt a chill go through her at the fear in their eyes when confronted with the force of Loki.

“Father,” Thor called, stepping forward, “surely you would not welcome our new princess of Asgard to our home like this. Let Loki take his family to his chambers and let us revisit this in the morning.”

“No,” Odin said, his voice taking on a bored and decided tone, “Loki goes to the dungeons.” Darcy took notice. He didn’t even bat an eyelash at the mention of his granddaughter.

“What for old man?” Loki hissed. “Are you concerned that I am a flight risk? Given that you yanked us out of one realm and threw us into another, there doesn’t seem to be much that is past the reach of the all powerful Odin. What will it matter where I sleep?”

“It matters to me.”

“Only because you are vicious and petty and want to see me suffer. You are willing to make people I love suffer just to punish me...”

“You will sleep in the dungeon,” he repeated, leaning forward. “And your concubine will sleep…

“She’s not my concubine!” Loki roared. “She will be my wife!” Darcy’s eyebrows shot up. That was news to her.

“She will sleep in guest chambers,” Odin yelled back. “And the child will be sent to the nursery with the wet nurse.”

“No,” Darcy said, stepping forward without a thought, and even Odin was taken aback by her tone. All that could be heard was an audible gasp move through the small crowd like wind across tall grass. Their dresses and robes shifted as they turned towards her, rustling like dry leaves.

“Midgardian,” Odin continued, “I will give you some ease here because you have born my son a child, but do not contradict…”

“No,” Darcy said again simply. “You may be able to boss your son around, but Anna is my child and you will not make choices for her. Only her father and I do that. She is staying with me. I will feed her, I will care for her, and she will sleep in my room…”

“Here on Asgard the children stay in the nursery…”

“No,” Darcy continued. “She will not be out of my sight for one minute, unless she is with her grandmother or her uncle or my friend Jane.” She held her baby tight and glowered at Odin. “I’ll scratch your other eye out before you get your way when it comes to her. You already scared the shit out of her tonight. You’re not getting off to a great start _Grandpa_.” She narrowed her gaze, pretty sure she had made her point.

Loki tried to contain the smile from spreading across his face. She had silenced the Allfather; that was not something anyone had ever dared do besides Frigga.

“And, for the record,” Darcy continued, “you may get to order Loki around now, but soon enough he’ll be my husband and the only person who gets to boss him around then will be me. I’ve got dibs. And don’t try to send me home,” she said, wrapping her free hand around Loki’s arm, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Loki didn’t bother to hide his smile anymore. It hadn’t been discussed, but it looked like it was decided. Odin looked like he was going to explode. Jane was shifting uncomfortably and Thor just looked confused. “Dibs,” he murmured, turning to Jane. “What is this ‘dibs’? Do you have dibs on me?”

“Yes,” she said, shooshing him and giving the stink eye to a blonde woman in a long dress in the corner who had a stupid smile on her face.

Frigga was ready to take control of the situation. “It is resolved then,” she said firmly, moving in between Odin and Darcy. “Loki will retire to the dungeon to await your decision husband. Darcy and the baby will stay with me in my suites.” Loki visibly relaxed and relented, because that solution suited him well enough. He knew perfectly well how to get from the dungeons to his mother’s rooms.  

He watched as his mother led Darcy and his daughter from the hall, giving his lover a small smile of encouragement before she turned to go. Over his shoulder he heard the familiar clank of Odin’s chains grow closer until they were right behind him.

 

“I know you probably will not be able to sleep the rest of the night,” Frigga said, her voice so soothing that Darcy thought she could probably put her to sleep if she wanted, “but it is best if you try to rest.”

Darcy sighed as she looked around the room. Of course it was gorgeous. It was massive, filled with wood and stone, and had windows looking out into the dark night. She wondered what she would see there when they awoke. There was a fire pit in the corner and a several large cabinets. On a first glance she would say the room was not adequately baby proofed, but Frigga could probably work some magic on that quite quickly.

The bed was draped in silver and purple and not far away was a gorgeous metal worked crib, full of the softest blankets Darcy had ever touched. Darcy leaned over again and ran her hand over the blanket hanging over the side. Anna leaned forward, clearly tired and thinking it was time to go back to sleep. She was still hiccuping and had wet eyes, so Darcy was hesitant to put her down for long.

“That was Loki’s crib,” Frigga said softly. Darcy noticed she had kind of a far away look in her eye. “I thought you might like to have it. I thought Anna might be able to tell in someway.”

“Thank you,” Darcy said, touched by her thoughtfulness.

“I put things here in the cupboards for you,” she continued, crossing to one of the wider armoires. “I am sorry that Odin felt the need to pull you out of bed in the middle of the night. I am not sure why he did it tonight as opposed to last week…”

“When they saw it,” Darcy finished for her.

“Yes,” Frigga sighed, clearly distraught over the situation between her sons and their father. “Loki has told you.”

“Some of it,” Darcy replied. She knew she didn’t need to be wary of Frigga or act cagey with her, but she suddenly felt too far out of her depth. She was at the mercy of this woman and so was her daughter. It made her incredibly uncomfortable.

“I know that what my sons saw was perhaps one of the ugliest things that has happened in our family. I hope, Darcy, that you will not judge us too harshly for the mistakes we have made. We are still in the process of fixing them.” Darcy nodded silently and bounced Anna a bit in her arms as she started to squirm and whimper. She could tell her daughter was on the verge of a meltdown from exhaustion and over stimulation. She needed to try to get her back to sleep. Frigga seemed to sense the same. She waved her hand and suddenly Darcy was wearing the most luxurious nightgown she could even imagine and Anna had on a new diaper under her jammies. “I will leave you,” she said, nodding towards the crib. “I will come first thing in the morning and get you settled. Goodnight dear,” she said, turning towards the door.

“Frigga,” Darcy called after her, “where is Jane?”

“In Thor’s chambers, on the other side of the palace. You will see her in the morning.” Darcy nodded and Frigga smiled. “Anything else?”

“Is Loki ok?” Darcy asked weakly, finally feeling the strain of the night.

Frigga smiled and closed her eyes. “He is well enough and soon he will be even better.” Then Frigga turned and left and Darcy felt extremely tiny in her very large room.

She felt kind of the same way she did right after Anna was born and she was alone in her apartment with her for the first time. She felt...lost. So she did what she did then. She paced and she sang and soon enough, Anna felt heavy and still in her arms. She couldn’t bare to part with her, so she she pulled back the bedding and laid her in the middle of the huge bed. Then she rounded the other side and climbed in as well. She cuddled up to her baby, and Anna rolled into her mother’s body, clinging to her night clothes. Darcy tried to relax against her child and let her steady breaths lull her to sleep, but all she could think about was Loki. She wasn’t exactly sure why they were in Asgard, but she was pretty sure it was about the time stone. She realized that this was going to be a battle of wills; Odin wanted it, or maybe he just didn’t want Loki to have it, and Loki wasn’t going to give it up because it was the only way to ensure her and Jane the long lives they wanted. Darcy let a small smile creep out when she realized that her PoliSci degree might actually be useful, finally. She just needed to negotiate a detente between two warring egos.

That thought comforted her for only a few minutes because as the fire started to die and the night seemed much longer than she imagined, she started to feel smaller and smaller in her huge bed inside her huge room. Anna continued to sleep peacefully and even though there were no clocks, Darcy felt for sure that hours has passed and it was still dark. Maybe the day would never come and she felt sheer panic as she realized she had no idea how long it would be until she saw Loki again. The tears came suddenly and without warning, but they were the silent, drippy kind that slid down her cheeks and over her jaw onto her neck. Here I am again, she thought to herself, crying over Loki because he should be here and he’s not.

 

Every time she felt her eyes starting to drift closed some new scary thought struck her and they popped back open. Would they have stuff Anna could eat? Would Odin try to take her or send her away? Would he imprison Loki again? Would Loki go crazy again? Her mind ran so fast that she didn’t immediately perceive the shift in the room. But when she felt his familiar weight dip into the bed, she turned suddenly and there he was. He stretched his long body along hers, sliding under the covers, and wrapping his arms around her, pulling Darcy into his embrace.

“I’m sorry,” he said over and over, his lips lingering on her forehead, “I should have known he would attempt something as dramatic as this.”

“But..” Darcy sputtered, pulling back and looking into his eyes, “you’re supposed to be in the jail.”

“Yes,” he sighed, slipping his fingers into her hair, “but that is not a problem at night. There is a weakness in Odin's defenses when the guards are fewer. Although he did put me twelve floors down so it took much longer to get out than I originally thought. I’m sure my mother thought I would be here hours ago. I will have to go back before daybreak.”

“I don’t care,” Darcy whispered, tucking her head under his chin, “just stay now. Don’t leave me here alone.”

“You will not be alone,” he whispered in return, his voice catching slightly in his throat. He had hoped she would never have to be subjected to Odin’s cruelty. “You will have me or my other or Thor and Jane. Never alone, not my love.”

Darcy sighed and snuggled into his arms, letting Loki’s gentle caresses sooth her. She felt a little bit of his warmth on the top of her head and she knew he was trying to put her to sleep. She pulled back quickly before she forgot.

“Hey,” she said, smiling brightly at him, “so we’re gonna get married?”

Loki actually looked embarrassed. “I had wanted to do it ‘properly’ as you said before,” he said, grimacing slightly, “but I’m afraid it is just another thing my father has ruined.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head and leaning up to kiss him, “its not ruined. I would marry you no matter how you asked me...or declared it in front of a royal tribunal of sorts.” Loki just closed his eyes and leaned down to kiss her. When he moved to pull away, she gripped his face, keeping him close. “Nobody can ruin anything for us,” she whispered to him. “I love you too much.”

Loki had felt the urge to cry in front of Darcy before, but being back in Asgard, under his father’s contempt, had made him value even more the love that Darcy had for him. He pulled her tightly against him and told her he loved her too. Then, quick as a wink, he put her to sleep and let his own tears fall silently into her hair until he saw the sun peak over the horizon.


	21. Chapter 21

Waking up was abrupt, too abrupt. The room was filled with light. Anna thrashed in her last fits of sleep and kicked her in the bladder, sending her shooting up in the bed. The room was unfamiliar and lonely. Most importantly, Loki wasn’t behind her. Over the last several months Darcy had grown used to waking up in the cocoon of Loki’s arms, her back against his chest, his lips teasing her skin somewhere, and usually, his half hard cock was flexing against her ass.

But she was alone in the big bed save her baby. “Darcy,” he called, already standing near the door, “I must leave.”

“What?” she mumbled, turning too quickly. It was too bright to open her eyes all the way and she felt half-drunk. “Did you sleep spell me?” she groaned. “I feel like a goon.”

“Yes, I’m sorry, but you needed to sleep and your mind was restless. Today will be difficult,” he said. He was wandering around the edge of the room, muttering incantations. Then he came back to the bed, looked her straight in the eye, and said “I’m sorry.” Darcy felt his magic moving through her a.

“Loki,” she groaned, but he held up his hand.

“This is necessary,” he said firmly. “I must be connected with you at all times.”

“Fine,” she grumbled, pulling herself up on her knees in front of him. She pushed herself up and threw her arms around his neck. “Connect with me now.” She tugged him forward until he relented and put his arms around her waist and she immediately relaxed into his chest.

“Darcy, I have to go.”

“Just kiss me,” she groaned, already missing him and not knowing when she would see him again. He leaned forward for a quick peck, but she managed to knot her fingers into his hair and lengthen the kiss. Then she leaned forward and deepened it. Finally, he groaned and pulled back.

“I do not want to leave you, but the attendants will come soon.” Just then Anna screeched at her parents. They turned to look at her and she gave them the same look she did every morning, as if they had just awoken from a family huddle in their own bed. “And she is hungry,” he continued. “And has probably pooped.”

Darcy smiled because although he was trying to act all adventurous and dangerous, his hand was also absentmindedly squeezing her ass like he often did when they were just hanging around the house. But then he gave her a quick smack on the butt and one more kiss.

“I love you,” he said softly and then he disappeared into thin air.

Darcy sighed and collapsed back into the bed. Anna crawled over to her and pulled at her shirt. “OK,” she sighed to herself, “let’s get this fucked up party started.”

 

The morning was a bit of a blur. Frigga came and helped her get dressed. She produced a tiny baby gown for Anna to wear and Darcy immediately realized that Asgardian girls weren’t meant to play too hard. After everyone was washed and dressed and Darcy’s hair was elegantly braided and piled on her head, they headed through the halls till they arrived in a large room with tables filled with food.

Jane was standing nervously beside one table, not paying attention as Thor described all the different things to eat. “Darcy!” she yelled running across the room and grasping her friend, “I have to talk to you.” Frigga was very happy to feed Anna, so Darcy grabbed some food and huddled in the corner with Jane to process all that had happened. She wanted to compare notes.

“It’s about the time stone thingy,” Darcy said, her mouth full of some delicious kind of bread, “it has to be.”

“How long have you known about that?” Jane asked, her voice suddenly turning a bit harder.

“A few months,” Darcy mumbled, swallowing some food, “since before Loki and I hooked back up.”

“What?” Jane hissed, shooting an icy glare at Thor.

Darcy looked at her friend wide eyed. She couldn’t believe that in all this time they hadn’t discussed it. “I thought you knew? How have we not talked about this?”

“Well,” Jane sighed, looking down at her fingers, “we haven’t seen each other that much in the last few months. Not since the two of you got back together.”

“I’m sorry,” Darcy whispered, her face falling realizing that she had been ‘that girl.’ Over sexed and happy, ignoring her friends.

“Well you have a lot going on,” Jane said, reaching over to squeeze her friend’s hand. “You have a baby and man-child boyfriend, who I guess you are also engaged to?” She lifted her eyebrows on the last note, indicating her uncertainty on that point. “I don’t think you would forget to tell me that.”

“Yeah,” Darcy sighed, leaning back in her chair, “that was sort of messed up. I mean we hadn’t discussed it, well once sort of, but then he just lost it with his dad last night and I realized...that’s what I want. I already told him I want him to figure out the mortality thing and…”

“So you’ve discussed this become as Aesir thing?”

“No…” Darcy said, furrowing her brow, “not exactly. I mean, he hasn’t said ‘become an Aesir.’ He just said I won’t die before him and Anna. Well he seems to think that Anna will be more Jotun that human when it comes to that.”

Jane sighed and turned to look out the window. “I think I know what pushed Odin’s button,” she said quietly. Darcy looked around and noticed that Thor and Frigga were now equal parts feeding and playing with Anna and watching the two of them confab in the corner. “But, tell me about what Loki has been doing with this time stone thing…”

Darcy stopped her friend’s steamrolling mind for a minute to ask her if she’d slept. “You don’t look so hot,” she said. Jane blanched at her honesty.

“There is a lot going on,” she said.

“Yeah,” Darcy nodded, “my fiance is in the dungeon right now, but I’m still eating this scone-muffin-cake thing. What’s up?” Jane looked like she hadn’t slept in days, she was pale, and she wasn’t eating any breakfast.

“Um,” Jane said, looking around, “actually I need to talk to you, but in private.”

Darcy’s eyes widened. Jane never had anything to talk to her about in private, it was always the other way around. She knew it must be big. “Hey Thor,” she called, dusting off her hands and standing up, “Jane and I need to go to the bathroom. Can you be in charge of Anna for a while?”

“Ah yes, of course Lady Darcy,” Thor said uneasily, eyeing Jane who wasn’t looking at him. “Mother and I will watch the baby.”

“Great,” Darcy smiled, “which way is the can?”

“Um, through those doors and passed the garden,” Thor replied, silently communicating to Darcy that he understood they weren’t really going to the bathroom. Darcy nodded back. She had to give it to him; he understood far more than people gave him credit for.

Darcy grabbed Jane’s elbow and pulled her along, stopping for two seconds to grab more bread, and then the two of them shuffled down the hallway and into the sunshine.

They followed the corridor along the side of the garden until they found the steps down and immediately Darcy felt like they were in a different place. The plants were all different, but not strange just ‘amped up’ in their color and size and smell. The further they walked into the garden the stronger the smell of flowers became and Jane started to look a bit woozy. Darcy pulled her into a clearing of trees where the smell wasn’t so strong and sat her on a bench.

“Spill,” she said, popping some bread in her mouth and not bothering to offer it to Jane. She already knew what was going on.

“Thor asked me to marry him last night.”

“Really,” Darcy said, raising her eyebrows. “Is that what you think set off the old man?”

“Maybe...partially.”

“Spill more.”

Jane sighed and bunched her dress in her sweaty palms. “Thor and I have been fighting for the last few days or so about...what’s going to happen with us.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m pregnant.”

“Jane!” Darcy yelled, trying to act surprised although she totally knew it. “When did you find out?”

“Just last Monday.”

Darcy dropped down next to her friend and threw her arms around her. “You’re happy right?” she said. “I know you want to be a mom, I can see the way you are with Anna.”

“Yeah,” Jane sighed, “I never really thought about it before you got pregnant, but I do want it. I just don’t know if I want all the other stuff that comes with it.”

“Like what? Does he want you to stop working or something? You tell him that backwards shit just won’t do…”

“He wants me to be Queen of Asgard.”

Darcy couldn’t contain her shock, although she realized she shouldn’t be surprised. “Wow,” she said, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her face. “That’s heavy.”

“Yeah it is, and he didn’t tell me any of this immortal stuff before and we had a big fight because it was just too much and he didn’t know how Loki was going to do it and then he said we had to get married and it was all so...formal and…”

“Not romantic.”

“Not romantic at all,” she cried, throwing up her hands. “And then I felt weird that I wanted that…”

“Why? You’re such a girl.”

“I know I am,” she said, suddenly getting teary. “And I feel really emotional and overwhelmed…”

“Cause you’re preggo.”

“Cause I’m preggo and I didn’t even plan to get pregnant.”

“You didn’t?” That surprised Darcy more than hearing her friend was expecting. She had assumed that they had decided. Jane wasn’t the type of person to get caught off guard.

“I forgot to take my pills for a few days last month,” she sighed. “I was at the lab and then I would just go home to sleep…”

“Yeah,” Darcy said, nodding her head, “this actually makes sense. How do you even live if I’m not there to remind you to breath?”

“I don’t know,” Jane said, shaking her head. “I’m not going to be a good mother.”

“Yes, you are,” Darcy scoffed, “don’t be dumb. Everything will change and you’ll do just fine. You took care of me didn’t you.”

“Cause you needed me.”

“And so will the baby and you’ll want to do everything for your little thunder god or goddess.”

Jane smiled. “I kind of want a goddess. Like Anna, but blonde.”

“She’ll be gorgeous,” Darcy roared, wrapping her arm around her friend and giving her a squeeze.

Then Jane got teary again. “But things with Thor are weird,” she said, “we didn’t even get a chance to finish our argument because as soon as he told me that I would come back here with him and be queen, Odin showed up in my living room and made us come with him.”

“And when was that,” Darcy asked, her mind now starting to put the puzzle together.

“About ten minutes before you all got there. But I spent those ten minutes throwing up in a basin behind the column. Odin was not pleased.”

“He’s a douchebag,” Darcy grumbled.

“Yeah,” Jane smiled, wiping away the last of her tears, “but I think he’s scared of you.”

“Good,” Darcy murmured, her heart suddenly turning over at the thought that she'd left her baby in the custody of Asgardians, even if it was Frigga and Thor. She stood up quickly. “Can we go back,” she asked, her voice betraying her fear.

“Are you worried about Anna?” Jane said, standing up and turning towards the path back the way the came.

“I know I shouldn’t be…”

Jane stopped and looked around her, just to make sure they were alone. “I don’t know that you shouldn’t be,” she whispered.

 

Darcy and Jane spent the rest of the day in Frigga’s suites, endlessly running over ever pro and con of spending eternity with their god-boyfriends. When they wanted food it appeared, when they were tired they slept in the huge purple bed. That night Jane was a bit reluctant to leave her friend alone, but Darcy assured her that Loki would sneak out of the dungeons. But he didn’t come and Darcy spent a long, restless night waiting for him. Before she knew it a week had passed and she hadn’t seen him. She and Jane wandered through the gardens and played with Anna (who started asking for Loki after just one day). She asked Frigga and Thor whenever she could, but all they would say was that Loki was being punished for defying the Allfather and there was little they could do. They wouldn’t even tell her the nature of the punishment. She tried not to, but at night the tears started to come and she scolded herself for once again crying over Loki. He was supposed to be able to feel her, so where was he?

After ten days, Frigga woke Darcy from another tearful, fitful sleep to let her know that the Allfather had called Thor and Loki to explain themselves. Apparently whatever punishment the old man had doled out had not worked because Loki was still refusing to give up the time stone.

Darcy got up and got dressed as fast as she could. She washed and dressed Anna, fed her a bit, and hustled them both down to the great hall. Then they waited. They waited so long that Darcy thought she would fall over from hunger. Eventually Frigga convinced her to eat, saying that she would not allow Darcy to miss Loki’s appearance. Darcy ate quickly and impatiently as Frigga fed Anna her applesauce. She wanted to see him now, she wanted an explanation. She wanted to touch him and kiss him and hold him. She wanted to know that he wasn’t hurt, she wondered if they’d done something to his magic. That was the only explanation she could think of for his absence. After what seemed like too long, Thor came to fetch them. It was all about to start.

Darcy hustled to take her place next to Jane at the side of the room. She wanted to be able to see everything, including the Allfather’s face. Although she hadn’t seen him since the night they arrived, she felt like she had a better chance of following if she could read his face. She was watching his stone cold expression when the doors at the back of the hall creaked open.  Darcy gasped as she saw Loki enter into the hall. He was in chains, his hands cuffed and latched to more chains around his body so he couldn’t use his arms. Chains extended off of him and each was held up by one of six very burly looking guards.

Darcy’s shock must have scared Anna, because she turned her head around and when she saw her father, she completely melted. She let out a wail that made Loki’s head whip around so fast his hair flew out behind him. She held out her arms towards him and cried “Da!,” her little voice dissolving into tears at the end. Immediately, all of Loki’s guards fell to the ground, as did his chains, and then he was in front of Darcy, lifting Anna into his arms and cooing to her softly, trying to comfort her.

Darcy barely had time to be shocked before Odin roared from the front of the room. “Loki!” he bellowed, but Loki only shot him a withering stare.

“Would you have done differently father?” he spit. “No bother, I know you would not.”

“Loki,” Frigga said, infinitely more gently, “do not test him.”

“I do not seek to test him,” he replied sharply, “but my daughter will not suffer needlessly, at least no more than she already has.” Odin seemed to take the shame in stride, because he settled back in his chair although his glare was hot and constant.

“Thor,” he called, shifting his gaze away from Darcy and Anna, “you come forward first. Let us begin to understand what has transpired.”

Darcy watched Thor very slowly make his way through the crowd and as they all waited, she turned towards Loki.

“What just happened?” she hissed. “How did you get out of those chains?”

“I can undo most of Odin’s magic when I truly wish it,” he replied. He was now cradling Anna in his arms like she was still a tiny baby (which she was compared to him) and she was very starting to calm down. But she was gripping her father like he might just disappear out from underneath her. “But only most of it. I have not been able, the last few days, to come and see you. But I felt you,” he said. His voice felt thick in his throat as he remembered feeling the ache in Darcy’s chest as she cried herself to sleep.

“Did you magic her the other morning too?” Darcy whispered.

“I did not cast the spell on her, I promised you I wouldn’t. When I heard her cry for me, the magic just came out,” he said quietly, leaning down to nuzzle her cheek and kiss her softly.

“Oh,” Darcy whispered, leaning away. Thor was now kneeling in front of his father. “For the record,” she said, leaning back towards Loki, “that was fucking sexy. I am totally hot for you right now. And I’m choosing to feel horny rather than sad because I missed you so much and if I think about it I’m going to fall apart if front of your douchebag of a father.”

Loki snickered quietly, turning away from the crowd and towards Darcy. He bounced Anna onto his shoulder and then bent down to kiss her. He groaned when he heard his father bellow his name from the front of the room and reluctantly pulled back. He stood next to Darcy, wrapping his free arm around her and holding her tightly against him.

She leaned into him and turned her face into his chest. Thor was somewhere in front of her promising his father that he would tell him the truth, but Darcy could have cared less. She just wanted to feel Loki next to her and smell him.  “I’m not kidding,” she sighed, wrapping an arm around his waist. “If you really want to piss your Dad off, you’ll take me behind that pillar over there and I promise I’ll scream loud enough so that everyone knows who the real god is.”


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family drama!

Loki let the feeling of contentment wash over him as he felt Anna snuggling her head into his collarbone while Darcy cuddled into his side. How his life had changed. He had been locked in Odin’s prison’s before, but never had he spent nearly every waking minute thinking about the wellbeing of others, of those he knew he could not live without. He held them both as tight as he could and rested his head on top of Darcy’s hair. He took deep breaths of her scent; it might have to get him through more lonely, long nights in his prison cell. Even though she now smelled like the herbs that so many Asgardian women used in washing, and which he had smelled on so many different women before he met her, he could still smell her beneath all of that.

He tried not to laugh as she made her crass jokes, really he needed to pay attention to what Thor and the Allfather were saying. He knew it was how she dealt with her fear. But Odin’s questions soon drifted into tedious terrain, making Thor recount every moment of his and Jane’s courtship from the very beginning. He felt Anna grow a bit heavier in his arms as she fell asleep and he felt Darcy fiddling with the buckles on his armor. He had dreamed this scene many times before, standing with his family in the throne room of Asgard, only it was under vastly different circumstances. This hadn’t been what he’d had in mind when he brought Darcy and Anna home. Although, he thought to himself, that might have been a naive dream.

“Hey,” Darcy whispered suddenly, lifting her head up to him.

“Yes darling,” he murmured, dropping his lips to her forehead. He could tell she was smiling.

“I have secrets to tell you.”

“You do?” he said, eyebrows lifting. Darcy almost never had a secret to tell him; she never kept secrets very long (at least not from him- not anymore) and he usually knew things before she did.

“Yeah,” she said, suddenly wondering if Thor already told him. “Have you been in isolation down there?”

“Yes,” he said, not bothering to hide the bitterness. “The old goat thought that a bit of alone time might make me see the error of my ways. But I am not a child; I do not need a time out. He has not even allowed Thor or mother down to see me, although Frigga smuggled me some books. Its as if he thinks I’m not a rational, thinking being.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her eyes wetting involuntarily. “I know you hate to be alone.”

“I do,” he murmured, returning her tight embrace. “But I did not truly feel alone. I knew you and Anna were waiting for me.”

“Always,” Darcy mumbled tearily.

“Don’t cry,” Loki whispered, kissing the top of her head. Thor was just arriving at the part where he and Jane went to the SHIELD camp to retrieve his hammer. Loki’s deceit would be recounted soon and that tale had already been heard, judged, and sentenced in these chambers. He did not need to hear it again. So he gave Darcy his attention, pulling her face up to his and capturing her lips in a soft kiss. He trailed his lips over her cheek, catching a few of her tears with his lips. She only squeezed him tighter and a few more spilled through her thick lashes. “Don’t cry,” he said again, “don’t let them see you like this.”

She took a deep breath and turned completely to face him, giving her back to the hall and burying her face in her soon-to-be-husband’s chest. She took several deep breaths as she wrapped her arms around his waist and when she finally pulled back, she noticed an older woman, no less beautiful than Frigga if slightly less regal, watching them with a surprised look on her face.

Darcy frowned and turned back around. She didn’t like the fact that people looked at them like that. Yes, Loki was her lover and a damn good one at that. Yes, they loved each other and had a baby without being married but they were getting married soon enough and he wasn’t a bastard orphan worthless extra spare prince. He was the love of her life and she thought he was pretty special. These Aesir could suck it as far as she was concerned.

“But what about my secret?” he whispered into her hair, and she smiled knowing he was smiling too and trying to distract her from their separation.

“Oh,” she said, raising up on her tip toes so she could whisper in his ear, “it is more like recon.”

“Recon?”

“Reconnaissance. I think it might mean something for you figuring out why your Dad is being such a douche. And beyond that it is just really big news. Like intercosmic, trans-realm big news.”

“Darcy, I know why he is being such a douche.” She tried not to laugh as the foreign word slipped off his tongue. “He hates me.”

“Your mother says he doesn’t, but nevermind. That might explain, like, his end-game douchiness, but not specifically why he scared our baby and dragged us here and locked you in prison and is up there grilling Thor.” Darcy turned her head and shot a quick look at Jane, who had moved across the hall to stand with Frigga when Thor went up to answer to his father. She looked like she was going to throw up and/or faint. Darcy decided that as soon as Loki got taken up for his Q & A, she would go stand with Jane and hold her up.

“Yes, darling, then what information do you have?”

Darcy looked him straight in the eye to deliver her news. “Jane is pregnant,” she whispered.

Loki’s eyebrows his his hairline, but he didn’t say anything. His gaze shot across the hall to his...was Jane his friend? Calling her his brother’s consort felt more comfortable to him. She did look peaked.

“And Thor asked her to marry him.”

Loki tilted his head slightly.

“And told her that you were going to make her immortal with the magic time thingy and then she would be queen of Asgard.”

His mouth dropped open.

“And then Odin showed up and dragged them up here. And apparently Jane puked in the corner.”

“That would make sense,” he murmured.

“The puking?” she whispered conspiratorially.

“Both actually.” He shifted his weight and moved Anna down slightly in his arms. She had started to drool down his neck and into his tunic. He smiled warmly knowing that he wasn’t such a prince when it came to his little princess. He had missed her weight in his arms.

He knitted his brow and watched the proceedings carefully. Odin was asking Thor to recount in painstaking detail what exactly Thor had promised Jane when he first left her behind to return to Asgard, before the Bifrost was broken. Thor was growing more red faced and frustrated, arguing that it didn’t matter now what he had promised then. Loki couldn’t help it; his smile grew wider and wider as he realized what all of this meant.

“What” Darcy asked, her voice full of both trepidation and amusement. “Why are you smiling?”

“Because now, my love, the fun can begin.” He wrapped his arm around her again and Darcy’s eyes grew wide as he brazenly grabbed her ass in the hall full of the royal court.

“Loki,” she hissed, “I was kidding about the fucking behind the pillar thing.”

“No,” he murmured, shaking his head. “I don’t mean our fun, although hopefully that shall resume soon as well. I mean that now that I know what Odin truly wants, I can begin to get what I want. I think it may offer the opportunity for a bit of strategic mischief.”

“Loki...no…”

He sighed petulantly and frowned. “Surely the no mischief rule can’t apply here amongst my own people. I understand this ban on torturing Midgardians, but here in Asgard everything is different…”

“No, I just don’t want you to do anything to make this worse.” Darcy returned to her nervous fiddling with his armor. “I don’t want to spend anymore nights apart then we have to. And I’d like you out of there for good because, no offense, this place is getting boring.”

“None taken, it is boring,” he agreed. “Hence the magic and mischief. But do not worry, my love, I will not endanger our plans.”

“Fine then,” she smiled, reaching down to pinch his butt and giggling as he wiggled away from her, “mischief away.” Her giggle got just a little bit louder as he swooped down to kiss her. As he pulled back, all sparkly green eyes with the slightly dopey expression he got sometimes like he couldn’t believe she was real, she leaned up for one more kiss. “See,” she said, “nobody can ruin anything for us.”

 

They watched in silence as Odin proceeded with his interrogation of Thor. There was nothing particularly new, except now the Odin’s questions were jumping into the future, into the time they had all worked together at SHIELD.

“Following your initial punishment of Loki,” Thor recounted, “we returned to Midgard to repair the city of New York. You allowed Loki to keep his magic for this purpose.”

“Yes,” Odin nodded, “I did. Not,” his gaze drifted towards Loki and Darcy, “for selfish aims.”

“He has not used it for selfish aims,” Thor objected. “Well, not in a meaningful way, perhaps little things here and there…”

“Is not the presence of yet another mortal consort in my throne room evidence of this fact!” Odin roared.

Thor narrowed his gaze at his father. He also knew what Odin was really angry about. “Lady Darcy is the reason your younger son has gained the strength and wisdom you wanted to see in him.”

Odin scoffed. “Did you not come here looking for him? Did you not tell the Queen and I that your brother had abandoned his pregnant mate and that you sought him out to bring him to task for his abuses to her?” Darcy’s mouth dropped open as murmurs went through the crowd. This was family business. Why were all these people here for this?

“Loki,” she hissed, “why is he airing all our dirty laundry in front of all these people?”

“Power, my love,” he replied coldly, “none of this counts if we aren’t all made to bask in the glory of Odin.”

“Father, I was angry at the time. And, more importantly, Loki did not know that Lady Darcy was with child when he left.”

“But still, he kept a mortal concubine and then disappeared from her bed, not to be heard from for one year in which time she carried and bore him a half-Jotun child on Midgard with no assistance from anyone…”

“She had me and Lady Jane and mortal healers who know Loki…”

“And mortal healers! She bore a mongrel child in front of mortal healers!”

Again the crowd erupted in murmurs and if Darcy’s had been blinded with red hot anger she might have seen the trace of regret that passed through Odin’s face. But then she felt Anna being deposited in her arms and then the flash of Loki’s magic left her standing next to Jane and Frigga while Loki was at Thor’s side. Jane was pale and wobbly. Frigga was staring down her husband and rubbing her hands together like she wanted to put her fighting rings on. Then she proceeded to walk next to her sons and calmly face her husband,.

Thor was visibly restraining Loki. His mother stood in front of him, blocking his line to his father and took his face in his hands. Darcy strained, but she couldn’t hear what she said. She could only see that it appeared to relax him.

“Father,” Thor spit, “please apologize to Lady Darcy and Loki. Anna is your own kin…”

“As Loki is very fond of reminding me, he is not my kin and thus, neither is she.”

A light went off in Darcy’s head. Odin was hurt that Loki had rejected him. Jesus, he was five thousand years old and he was acting like a fifteen year old. Anna squirmed in Darcy’s arms, clearly sick of being held and ready to get down and play. Strategic mischief, she thought, or maybe just make the point.

She swung her dress out behind her with a great flourish and carried her baby to the edge of the steps leading up to the throne. She sat down on the lowest step and let Anna stand up in front of her, facing the crowded room and where everyone could see. Anna squealed in happiness and started to wildly bounce on her pudgy legs. It was one of her favorite games, something that Loki and Darcy suspected would soon progress to walking. Within seconds she had the attention of the room, because while her daughter might be a mongrel, Darcy knew she was also extremely, undeniably cute. Strategic mischief, make the point...and maybe a bit of PR on top of everything.

Loki let out a satisfied smirk as he watched Darcy play in the corner with Anna, clearly entertaining the entire room and stealing their attention from Odin. Gods she was brilliant, he thought to himself, a better politician than most in the room. Even Odin was watching them. He hadn’t even gone to see Anna in the weeks they’d been on Asgard and he knew from Frigga that he had struggled to maintain his resolve.

“Allfather,” Loki called, his voice taking on a slightly smarmy, knowing tone, “perhaps we can continue this conversation amongst the family. I would like to discuss the terms of our negotiation.”

“Negotiation?” Odin spit. “I do not need to negotiate…”

Loki shrugged. “We can do battle if you’d like, but neither of us wishes to pull this hall down.”

“No,” Odin laughed, “you would rather watch it burn.”

“You know father, the mortals have a word for this. They call it projection. I have come to respect some of their healers, particularly the ones that focus on the mind. They live for such a short time they must confront their infirmities in ways that Asgardians manage to avoid.”

Thor bristled next to him, quite sure that no one in the hall had missed the subtle barb. Odin leaned forward, staring at his sons who were resolved against him. He opened his mouth to speak but shut it abruptly. Frigga’s stance had changed and Loki knew the posture well. She was interceding in silence, speaking directly to Odin.

Odin banged his staff twice on the floor and the room erupted in a flurry of activity as everyone made for the doors. Loki and Thor were immediately at the sides of Darcy and Jane.

“Come ladies,” Thor commanded, “let us retire to mother’s private chambers.”

“What is happening?” Darcy asked, trying to control Anna’s protest to being picked up again.

“We will now gather as a family,” Loki snarled, still glaring at his father. “And discuss our private matters.”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “Shouldn’t we have done that a few hours ago?” Loki lifted Anna into his arms and nodded silently.

“Ok, where to?” Darcy asked, eyeing her friends. “And on our way there let’s stop by the bathroom so Jane can hurl. She’s been swallowing it down all morning.”

“Thank god,” Jane whimpered, gripping her stomach.

 

Loki was pleased to be sprawled on the floor of his mother’s suite playing with Anna. He knew that Odin would not come immediately. He and Frigga would consult on their troublesome sons first. Thor was pacing, waiting for Darcy and Jane to emerge from the bathing chamber.

“Brother,” Thor called suddenly, “do you have a cure for this ailment of Lady Jane?”

“Yes,” Loki said distractedly, “it is called giving birth.”

Thor stopped abruptly. “Darcy told you.”

Loki nodded. “She did. And we should discuss this….later.” He watched as Darcy emerged from the bathroom. Thor charged for the door, but Darcy held up her hand.

“She’s ok, just give her a minute."

“Is this normal for mortal women?” Thor asked. “She has been projecting her food for several days.”

“Yep,” Darcy said, settling cross legged on the floor with Loki and Anna, who squealed excitedly at having both of her parents back. “Don’t worry, she and I have been through his before. Do you remember how much I threw up?”

“Oh, yes,” Thor said. “There was that one unfortunate incident…”

Loki quirked his gaze. He had now come to enjoy the various stories of Darcy’s pregnancy, some how no longer feeling that sharp stab in his side. Her forgiveness was a powerful balm.

“I threw up on Steve,” Darcy smiled, remembering that Steve just happened to turn the corner and step in her way as she dashed to the bathroom, “all over his super hero outfit.” Loki just smiled and shook his head, imaging the captain’s face. “It is not easy to get barf out of a chest plate.”

“Oh yes,” Thor smiled, “but I was thinking of the elevator…”

“Oh yeah!” Darcy laughed, “that was narly. I had corn chowder for lunch that day.”

“The archer was not pleased,” Thor grinned.

“Is this how you pass your time on Midgard my sons? Discussing the weak stomachs of mortals?” Darcy felt the room go cold as Odin seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“Husband, you know that all women suffer this ailment when they carry a new life. I was very ill when I was pregnant with Thor.” Frigga calmly stepped around him and went directly to Anna, bending down to her as Anna lifted her arms up to grandmother. Darcy smiled, glad that this time on Asgard had resulted in at least one great thing: Anna and Frigga were totally in love with each other. “Odin,” she said calmly, walking towards her husband, “this is your granddaughter Anna."

Odin seemed to shift a bit in his spot, eyeing the baby carefully. “She is very handsome,” he finally admitted.

“She is a beautiful baby,” Frigga agreed warmly, hugging her close. “She has equal parts of her father and mother.”

“Yes,” Loki said, rising to his feet, “sometimes mongrels are more than the sum of their parts. Have you ever seen a golden doodle, father? It is a dog.”

“Loki…” Thor sighed, “let us try.”

“Yes, let’s,” Loki agreed clapping his hands. “Time for our negotiations.”

Frigga shook her head. “Should we not just spend some time together as a family…”

“Actually mother, I wish to spend as much time as possible with _my_ family as I have not seen them in two weeks.”

Darcy noticed Odin’s face harden at Loki’s insinuation. Jesus, turn the knife much, she thought to herself. “Ok,” she said, getting to her feet, “I have an idea. I think we should discuss the mutual dissolution of hostilities.”

“What?” Thor asked.

Loki smiled. Again, she was brilliant. “A mutual non-aggression pact. She is suggesting that I agree not to provoke and in return Odin will ease his confinement.”

Odin just laughed. “Be careful Loki, you are not so powerful…”

“As you? No I am not or at least, not in the same way. But I can take much with me on my way out.”

“Exactly,” Odin snarled, “you remain in the cell. You are not to be trusted.”

“I suspected as much,” Loki nodded. “But you are not to be trusted either I’m afraid. I could not possibly discuss the fate of the time stone without some demonstration of faith.”

Odin considered this. “And in exchange for this concession?”

“I will remain in the cell, but allow me visitors and remove the extra guards.” Darcy made a small noise of objection, but Loki shot her a look that shut her up. He did know better what was possible in the moment.

“And I would like Loki to spend the rest of the day here with Darcy, Anna, and I,” Frigga chimed in.

Odin flicked his gaze across the room. “So be it.” His gaze landed on his sons, who were again standing side by side, always his greatest hope, except they were standing against him. “We will discuss this in time.” Then he gave one more side glance to Anna before turning and leaving them behind.

Darcy rolled her eyes. “Nice chat,” she called after him, “see you again soon. You know,” she said, turning to Frigga, “you’re supposed to have more trouble with your mother-in-law than your father-in-law. He’s supposed to be cuddly.”

Loki laughed. “That is not a term I would use to describe Odin.”

“But he’s so furry…” she grinned. Loki pulled her into his arms and leaned down for a kiss as the bathing chamber door finally opened and Jane emerged, only to be immediately pulled into Thor’s arms.

“What did I miss?” she asked, her voice muffled behind a wall of thunder god.


	23. Chapter 23

Loki was dozing slightly when in the corner of his mind he heard the sound of his brother down the hall. He was greeting the guards as they soluted him, their future king, and then there was the unmistakably clomping sound of his boots and armor. Thor would never excel at a sneak attack.

He sat up from his bed quickly and shook his head awake. After his day with Darcy and Anna, it had troubled him more than he expected to return to his empty cell. His father had not yet lightened the guard and so he had to stay there alone for another night. He had not slept a bit, his thoughts too consumed with figuring out the next move with Odin.

“Greetings brother,” Thor called as he stepped up to the clear wall separating them. Thor nodded at the guard and the barrier disappeared, only to reappear the second after Thor stepped over the boundary. “We have must to discuss.”

“We do,” Loki nodded, motioning to the two chairs his mother had provided him. “I have been puzzling over the extent of Odin’s reaction…”

“It is about the baby,” Thor mumbled unhappily. “He does not want me to marry a Midgardian or for a ‘mongrel’ to someday sit on the throne.”

“That is precisely it,” Loki sighed, feeling a slight twinge of sadness on his brother’s behalf. His situation was in many ways worse than Loki’s. “Whereas he doesn’t really care what I do.”

“No, not really. I think he is mad at you for an entirely different reason.”

“Yes,” Loki sighed, “Darcy has worked it all out, and I believe she is probably right. She thinks he is hurt that I have rejected his kinship.”

Thor nodded slowly. “You have. You remind him at every turn that you do not consider him to be your father.”

“And if you were in my position,” Loki argued, clearly exasperated, “what would you do? Continue to hold yourself to the line of a man that hates what you are at your core? Who convinced you to hate yourself? Who called your daughter a mongrel?”

“No,” Thor sighed, shaking his head, “I do not believe Odin in blameless here. But if he has any regret, you pour salt on that wound whenever you can.”

Loki sighed loudly, slumping down and throwing his head back over the edge of his chair. He did not want to admit that any of this was the case, even if Darcy had insisted so. While Anna napped in the afternoon, Darcy and Loki had laid out on the balcony, talking about what was to come. She had told him in no uncertain terms how he was making the situation worse and what she thought he needed to do. He didn’t really want to spend his limited time with her talking about his father, so attempted, and succeeded, at distracting her temporarily with some very fervent kisses.

“Do you not see this brother?” Thor asked hesitantly, leaning over and peering at Loki. It was always a bit dangerous to confront Loki with his own behaviour.

“No, I see it,” he groaned. “Darcy has said the same. But I cannot reconcile him in that way Thor. Not after what you and I have seen. Not after the entirety of my own life.”

Thor nodded silently. There was much that Odin needed to ask forgiveness for. They sat in silence for a moment before Thor took a deep breath and unburdened his mind. “I have been thinking a great deal about Midgardians lately,” he began.

“Because you have sired one?”

“Yes.”

“It is not the first time an Aesir has impregnanted a Midgardian. Your child will still be powerful.”

“I am not concerned about that,” Thor said dismissively. “I know Odin cares a great deal, but I think it is of lesser concern.”

Loki nodded silently. They both knew the throne of Asgard was less certain that Odin believed. And the child could have any number of gifts. It could have Frigga’s magic and Jane’s intelligence.

“I am concerned that...do you not find the Midgardians, in some ways, more sophisticated?”

Loki smiled immediately. He and his brother had never discussed this, but it was something he had puzzled over. Why had they both fallen in love with these women? What had they missed in their lives on Asgard that they found in homes on a lesser realm with, in many ways, lesser beings?

“For all our lives,” Thor smiled, “we believed them an inferior race. But I know now that Midgardians possess traits that we have not yet mastered. It is their mortality, what we understand as their weakness, that makes them stronger in some ways.”

“Such as?”

“Are they not more compassionate?” Thor asked, standing and walking around Loki’s cell. “Do they not understand forgiveness better? Darcy has forgiven you. Jane has forgiven me of things I have done.”

“What things?”

“I have left her at times. I have assumed my life is more important than hers. I have been inconsiderate. They even have the concept of ‘inconsiderate’!” Thor threw up his hands. “It is our upbringing? Were we too privileged to develop the ability to love the way they do? Why does it always feel as if we take and they give and someday…”

“Someday what?” Loki was now troubled with his brother’s line of thought. It was far more reflective and interesting than he was used to and it was going down a dark path.

“Do you not think,” Thor said slowly, turning to face him, “that they will resent us for it? That they may leave us? That we cannot love them as well as they love us?”

The thought struck like lightning through Loki’s guts. He had thought it before, but kept to himself. If he didn’t share it perhaps it wasn’t real. How many times could Darcy forgive him before she had enough? How much could he actually change? But if Thor realized the same, it may very well be a real danger.

Thor continued. “Are we fit to father their children? Can we raise them better than Odin raised us? True it is not the case for all Midgardians, but Darcy and Jane would never ‘hate’ someone or think them inferior simply because they were different from themselves. In fact they would oppose it. Are we no better than our father? Do we not look down on Midgardians in many ways? Our children are half that race? Will we teach them to value the realms of their mother’s less?”

Loki stood and walked to his brother. “Thor, I am not saying that what you have raised is not very real and very possible, but brother, I think you are reeling from the new reality that you will soon be a father.”

Thor groaned and sank into a chair, holding his head in his hands. “My mind races constantly,” he said pitifully.

“And that you are not used to, I understand.” Loki sank into the other chair with a light smile on his face. Maybe he could get better at teasing. Thor smiled at Loki’s obvious attempt to lighten his mood. “But you are right,” Loki said, leaning back in his chair, “they are much better at all of those things than we are. It is what made me want Darcy in the first place.”

 

He didn’t remember her from the previous attack in New Mexico. He recalled seeing Jane running around and of course she threw herself on his brother’s body. He remembered others loitering in the background and he had been informed that one of them was Darcy. But that was the beginning of the darkest time in his life, so it was only fitting that his salvation would have been present and he hadn’t noticed her. He sometimes wondered if she might have been able to stop all that followed.

He only said that because he knew as soon as he saw her in Jane’s lab at SHIELD that he had to have her. She was the most beautiful Midgardian he’d ever seen. And she wasn’t beautiful in that classic, pristine, frail sort of way that Jane was beautiful. Darcy was beautiful in the worldly, been-there, done-that sort of way. She had deep, intelligent eyes and a knowing smirk. The smirk was always there. And when she opened her mouth, she could back it up. She was...hot. Loki thought she was hot. He was loathe to admit to his baser instincts, but she was hot. He wanted her underneath him whimpering his name as soon as he saw her.

He saw her across the room as he entered the lab with Thor. Inwardly he was glad that the SHIELD agents and his brother had already seen fit to remove the chains that bound his wrists and mouth. He was presented to Jane as a resource, someone to help with her studies, and there in the back of the lab, was Darcy. She was talking to the man out of time, they were laughing about something and he was clearly hanging around out of a need for a friend. And Darcy was friendly; Loki was quick to notice that she was not too friendly, just kind. He suspected that at some point, that kindness would be her weakness.

But it turned out to be his. She was kind to him when no one else was. For months people barely even spoke to him, Darcy was quick with a small smile or knowing glance when the archer came by to make his presence known. She told him she understood about the tessaract and that if he was sincere in his attempts to make things better, they should be sincere in their attempts to forgive. She introduced him to several Midgardian pleasantries: coffee, donuts, music. He spent many weekends alone in his chambers, wandering to the laboratory out of sheer boredom and often he would find something at his work station that Darcy had left for him before her weekend break. Sometimes it was candy because she knew he had a sweet tooth. Sometimes it was a series of films he was instructed to watch on the system in his room. Then on Mondays she would solicit his thoughts on the films. Sometimes she left him something to read. He pretended to like them all. Some of them he did like. He liked the books about the orphaned boy wizard.

She never invited herself in. She had told him later that she was wary of him and his ‘boundries.’ She didn’t want to impose or suggest or imply something. And yet she knew things about him without suggesting, implying, or imposing. She knew he was lonely. She knew he was bored. And she knew, better than most, that none of those things would help him to become someone different.

She also knew that while she couldn’t invite herself in, she could invite him out. Loki wasn’t allowed out of headquarters without Thor, so she prevailed on Thor to bring Loki out one night. She arranged everything to make him comfortable. They went to a bowling alley on the far side of town, where there were very few people and no one noticed them. They ate hamburgers and drank beer and Darcy showed him how to bowl. He enjoyed it immensely because it involved a kind of physical activity he wasn’t allowed in his circumstances. He also enjoyed standing behind Darcy and watching her throw the ball. The way she lunged, her pants hugging her ass and hips and thighs. And when she hit the pins she would turn around a jump up and down a bit and that was the best thing Loki had seen in centuries. Darcy had possibly her best night at bowling every, in part due to the influence of Loki’s limited magic. But he only did it to watch her bounce.

After that night it got harder and harder for him not to think about Darcy all the time and everytime he thought about her he got harder and harder. It was driving him mad. In the past he had been able to distract himself by dwelling on his predicament in Asgard. He had no idea how long this supposed imprisonment at SHIELD was to last. He did not know what kind of deal Thor has made on behalf of their father for Loki’s rehabilitation. He decided he would need to be bold. The next time she left a list of films on a post-it stuck to his notebook, he immediately put it back on her desk. On Monday he suggested that she should come over and watch them with him on the weekend. She didn’t even hesitate before she said yes.

But she kept her distance. She laughed away his subtle advances. She never stayed for a visit longer than one film. He was disappointed that she did not seem to return his affections and yet, he did not want to see her less because of it. She was his only friend, save his brother. They had been trying to repair their relationship as well, talking at length about their history and what had occurred.

And then one day, more than a year after he came to SHIELD, the iron man came to see him and informed him he would be allowed to move out of the facility and into his own suites at the tower. The others ‘super heroes’ had their suites at the tower as well. The exchange for this would be Loki’s agreement to help with more problems than just Jane’s astrophysics. Could he help Stark in design projects? Could he help his brother in missions? Would he be willing to play nice in exchange for a possible life?

The iron man gave him the day to think about it so he mentioned it to Darcy. She asked supportive questions. Did he want to do those things? Would it be an improvement over his conditions? Did he feel remorse for his past actions and was ready to help? All of those were a yes in Loki’s mind, even if he also still wanted to be a little bit bad. And then Darcy offered him a nugget. She came to stand right next to him and lifted his hand into hers, twining their fingers together. If he moved into the tower, she asked, would he be free to go around town as he wanted? Did that mean they could go out alone, without Thor and Jane? Did that mean he could come over to her apartment?

Loki moved into the tower before the weekend. And he asked Darcy to join him for dinner on Saturday night and that had been the beginning of the rest of his life.

 

Loki groaned and dropped his head back over the edge of the chair again. Why did he struggle so hard to come to terms with what his soon-to-be-wife said. She was always right. She had told him the day before that the only good things he had in his life has come to him through acts of compassion and forgiveness. He had to embrace the possibility of it for anything to happen on Asgard that would resolve all of this mess. He didn’t want to do that; he wanted to hate Odin for as long as possible. He wanted someone to blame for all the mistakes he’d made and it would be far easier if his ‘father’ was the ultimate culprit, the terrible father who put him on the wrong path. But that wasn’t true. Odin had tried to teach him things. He had known his was being evil when he was evil, selfish when he was selfish, petty when he was petty.

“Thor,” he sighed, lifting his head, “I will consider how I speak with father. I will try to control my tongue. But that does not solve the problem of our children and our mates.”

“No,” Thor said, shaking his head, “it goes not. What next brother on that front?”

Loki sighed and pushed his fingers through his hair. “I do not know.”


	24. Chapter 24

“Where is Thor?” Darcy asked as she set Anna down on the rug in the middle of Thor and Jane’s chambers. Anna immediately crawled to the nearest chair and pulled up on her shaky legs. She was perfectly happy to play her bouncing game all by herself and narrate every movement in her baby gibberish.

Darcy gave her a broad smile and looked around the room. Thor was always here with Jane, they never spent any time apart.

“I don’t know,” Jane called from the bed, “he’s gone off to check on some royal thing I think. I wasn’t really listening.”

“Were you trying not to barf?” Darcy asked sympathetically.

“Yes,” Jane groaned. “But it didn’t work.” Darcy sat on the bed next to her friend and rubbed her back, keeping one eye on Anna who was now very interested in a pillow. “How long is this going to last?” she moaned.

“I guess it is different for everyone,” Darcy sighed. “I had it a good five weeks with Anna. Maybe more. I had a few random barfs later on too.”

“Uh….” Jane’s groans were interrupted by the sound of the chamber door opening and the appearance of Frigga. Anna squawked when she saw her and held up her arms, forgetting she was standing up. She wobbled and fell on her bum. Completely unphased she simply flopped over and started crawling towards her grandmother. Darcy narrowed her eyes as the other woman she had seen in the hall silently followed in behind Frigga.

“Good morning my dears,” Frigga said cheerfully, bending down to pick up Anna. “How do we fair today?”

“Jane’s sick,” Dary sighed, scratching her friend’s back in an attempt to be comforting.

“Ah,” Frigga said, “I have brought you someone my dear. What you suffer is not abnormal, but it is debilitating. Let Eir have a look at you.”

The woman stepped from Frigga and nodded at them both. “Lady Darcy, Lady Jane, I’m sorry we have not yet met. My name is Eir and I serve at the pleasure of the Queen.”

Darcy smiled a shallow smile. She felt suspicious of this woman, like she knew something Darcy didn’t. “How do you serve?” she asked in reply, moving away from her spot next to Jane as the woman approached.

“Eir is a healer, Darcy,” Frigga smiled, settling into a chair with Anna in her lap. Anna held her grandmothers forearms as Frigga gripped her under her arms and she bounced as vigorously as she possibly could, banging her head in rhythm with her legs. “Oh yes my love!” Frigga laughed. “Wonderful bouncing!”

Eir smiled at Anna and Darcy relaxed a bit. Her smile was genuine. “She is very strong and agile for her age,” she said softly, turning towards Darcy, “much like her father.” That perked Darcy up even more.

“You knew Loki as a baby?” she asked.

“Yes,” Eir nodded, motioning for Jane to roll over on her back. She laid her hands on Jane’s stomach and felt around a bit. “When he first arrived we struggled to get him to eat. He was very small for a Jotunn and we feared he was ill, his appetite was nearly non-existent.”

“Anna doesn’t have that problem,” Darcy chimed in.

“No,” Eir smiled, drawing a blanket up over Jane, “she is a very healthy baby. She will grow up to be very strong and, I daresay, very beautiful.”

Eir stood up and went to a table, pulling things from her cloak as she walked. She began to mix something in a bowl and without Darcy having to press further, she continued. “Prince Loki was very difficult to care for early on. He did not know where he was or what was around him.”

“But he was a baby.”

“But not a normal baby,” Eir smiled, “he had consciousness, even as a young infant. He does not remember those days easily, but he understood what was going on around him.”

Darcy swallowed hard. It would be better not to know how deeply Odin’s hate was planted in Loki’s subconscious. It explained too much.

“But eventually,” she smiled, turning towards Frigga, “he was such a happy baby.”

“Yes,” Frigga smiled, looking down at Anna, who was concentrating very hard on pulling at the beading on her grandmother’s dress, “he was such a joy.”

“Really?” Darcy asked.

“Such a caring and thoughtful child,” Eir smiled. “He spent many days as a very young boy in my room with me. He wanted to ‘play healing’ all the time. He didn’t go with Thor and the other boys to practice war. But by the time he was...maybe nine or ten years old...Thor made him give up the healing arts and practice sparring with the other boys.” Eir looked at Frigga to confirm her memory and Frigga smiled sadly.

“It was one of many points about Loki that Odin and I disagreed on,” she sighed. “He was determined to raise Loki as a Prince of Asgard and to be a Prince means to be…”

“Hard,” Darcy finished, turning away from the women.

She felt a cool set of fingers touch her shoulder. “But he is not,” Eir smiled, motioning for Jane to sit up and drink. “When you see him with Anna you know that Odin’s lessons did not take as he imagined.”

Frigga smiled at that. “They did not take with Thor either. And though my husband is very foolish on many things lately, he didn’t want them to be solely warriors. He wanted wise sons. Thor’s failure in that regard is how you all came to us in the very first instance.”

Darcy bit her tongue. She and Frigga had only discussed the problems in Loki’s upbringing alone, never in front of Jane or anyone else, and Frigga had always brought it up. But she wanted to ask.

“Very often, Loki came to the healing rooms after some altercation with his brother or father or the other boys,” Eir said, looking out the window as Jane sipped her drink. Darcy knew that, despite her nauseous, Jane was watching her carefully. “I think he knew that magic is what would make him special, not brawn or fighting.”

“Yes,” Frigga said, “he always had talent, his gifts are innate, but Eir is largely responsible for supporting the ethic in his mind.”

“What ethic?” Jane abruptly chimed in, immediately flushing as she realized she’d insulted someone that everyone in the room cared for deeply.

“The one that is buried deep,” Eir smiled, reaching out to squeeze Darcy’s hand. “Loki does not always make the best choices, neither does Thor, but he feels remorse and he tries.” She turned to look at Darcy again. “When given the proper motivation that is.”

 

For a year she had watched him resist, struggle, and finally relax into the new world he was confined to. She knew he would probably rather be anywhere but on Earth. He had, while mad with rage, tried to destroy it, failed, and was then imprisoned by those he had sought to overpower. It was humbling to say the least and he didn’t take it well at first. After two weeks of no eye contact, one syllable responses, sneers and jeers, and very obvious eye rolls, Darcy decided she was going to break him, but not in the way everyone else wanted. She was going to make him more human if it killed her.

There was only one way to do it; kill him with kindness. She had overheard enough of Thor’s guilt over his brother to know that what Loki needed, and never got enough of, was acceptance. SHIELD was not the place to get that, not unless some of them tried to change themselves as much as they were trying to change him. Also, he was nervous around her. He bit his lip; his eyes twitched back and forth, sometimes his pupils dilated. She knew how to watch people and he didn’t hate her like he hated the others. She was the only one with a possible in and she had to take it.

Now she was very nervous. It was hard to believe she was going on an actual date with an alien god. She wasn’t scared of him; after a year working side-by-side every day, she felt pretty confident that psycho Loki was a thing of the past. He was still mischievous and he could be ridiculously petty when he wanted to be. He was still sort of a bad boy, but she’d always had a thing for bad boys. It was cliche as hell, but she really thought the only thing left to try with him was the love of a good woman. And they both needed to get laid, that was pretty clear.

No, she was nervous because she liked him. Because she wanted to jump his bones and pick his brain. Because she found him interesting and sexy and she just wanted it to work. She had no idea what ‘it’ could possibly be with someone like him, but she wanted to be around him...intimately. Darcy had really only ever gotten by in life by pretending that she didn’t care about things, much like Loki, but she had a feeling that wouldn’t work with him. She’d put him off so that SHIELD wouldn’t know what they were up to, or at least not have it on video tape, but it was very difficult. It was very difficult to ignore his insinuations that they should be lovers. She had to give it to him, he had skills, because they were subtle and pretty smooth. But they were still there and the way he looked at her made his meaning very clear.

And he also had a thousand years on her. A thousand years of god knows what with other people. That was a lot of pressure. Had he ever done anything as pedestrian as go out on a date? Did Loki know how to go out on a date? Loki was not only the first alien god Darcy had ever gone out with, he was also, possibly, the first ‘man.’ She’d dated guys in college and a few hook ups here and there, but they were boys. They moved like boys, they talked like boys, and they were familiar like boys. Loki was...something else entirely.

He asked her to dinner on Saturday night. He told her he would come to her ‘dwelling’ to collect her. It felt like a proper date. He didn’t tell her about what they were doing or where they were going, so she decided to shoot for the middle. She wore a black dress with a sweetheart neckline because even though her girls didn’t need the help, she already suspected that Loki was into her boobs and she figured if he was distracted it might level the playing field.

She almost laughed out of sheer surprise when she opened her door and found Loki standing there with flowers. When she asked him why he brought them he immediately looked confused and asked if that was not the custom on Midgard. He had discussed it with the talking computer man in his apartment who had read him a detailed treatise on Midgardian dating rituals. It specified that on a first date you were to bring the lady flowers and escort her to a semi-formal meal. He noted that he found the rituals of other cultures to be fascinating and that he was looking forward to experiencing the ‘first date’ practices with Darcy.

“So this is really a date,” she said, looking up at him from behind her flowers.

“Yes,” he nodded shortly. “This is a date. A romantic one, not a platonic one. I intend to court you.” She gave him a huge smile. She had never been ‘courted.’

Thus began the running gag on the anthropology of hooking up on Midgard versus Asgard. Darcy realized an opportunity when she saw it. As they walked to the restaurant, she pretended to be turned off and offended until she finally asked if he was going to hold her hand. He stuttered nervously at his mistake and took her hand firmly. She immediately felt bad for teasing him. So, as they walked through a small park to the restaurant, she stopped in front of the fountain and suggested they do somethings out of order for the evening. Loki looked down at her quizzically, but she just stretched up on her tippy toes, even in heels it was hard to match him, and pressed her lips softly against his. He responded quickly and soon Darcy was overwhelmed. It was clearly a first kiss a year in the making. When they pulled back, Darcy told him that the whole goal for the guy on the first date was to get a kiss at the end of the night, but she felt he deserved one from the get go. Then, mischief god that he was, he quickly leaned in and stole another kiss. “If a mere mortal strives for one kiss,” he whispered in her ear, “I shall do far better.”

He stole kisses all night. When they were seated at the restaurant he pulled out her chair for her and when she turned her head up to say thank you, he was right there for a kiss. They went to a French restaurant because the talking computer had said it was statistically considered to be romantic. It was probably the most romantic date Darcy had ever been on, and his quest for kisses only made it more so. He kissed her hand and the inside of her wrist, saying that those counted. He let her try the wine first and then when she offered him a taste he quickly leaned it and took it from her lips. When he helped her up from her chair after the meal, he slipped his hand around her waist and tugged her close for another. They walked along the riverfront and, as they gazed out over the water, he leaned in and pressed his lips to her temple. That move had her so distracted that he was able to go in for a nuzzle in her hair and leave another kiss just behind her ear. Her heart just about leapt out of her chest at that move and he didn’t even need to steal the next kiss. She leaned into it. She leaned into it hard.

By the time they got back to her apartment, Loki had a hugely satisfied smirk on his face. As she paused to unlock her door, he held up both hands. “Ten,” he said smugly, “I have secured ten kisses in the course of the evening. Not bad for a ‘first date’ and unheard of at the onset of courting.”

“No, not bad,” she said, turning around in her open door and putting a hand to his chest as he attempted to move forward. He frowned in reply, a confused look crossing his face.

“Am I not to be invited in?” he asked. She wasn’t sure if he thought the custom was violated or he’d broken the rules.

“What kind of girl would I be,” she sighed, leaning against him a bit, “if I let you in after the first date? I’m already the kind of girl that gives ten kisses.”

He didn’t miss a beat. “A very satisfied one,” he grinned.

“Oh, you think very highly of yourself Mr. Ten Kisses.”

“It is more important that you think very highly of me,” he replied. His voice was too sexy.

“I think highly enough of you,” she smiled, “to send you home.”

He gave in. He clearly didn’t want to push and she suspected he knew the game was as much fun as giving in. “You send me home to plan for a second date?” he asked hopefully.

“I think so,” she nodded in reply. Then she leaned forward and slid her hand up his chest. “And I’ll send you home with a prize for a very successful first date.” She leaned it and captured his lips in a firmer kiss. He responded quickly, gripping her hips to hold her against him, but he did not expect it when she licked at the seam of his lips and tugged at his bottom lip. She slipped her tongue into his mouth and she felt him tremble against her. She moaned into his kiss, just to top it all off, and when she pulled back his eyes were glazed with lust and she was pretty sure she’d just been introduced to little Loki against her lower belly.

“See you on Monday,” she sighed, turning slightly back towards her apartment.

“That was cruel,” he said, trying to catch his breath.

“Such are the ways of Midgardian women,” she smiled, closing the door in his face. She stood listening for almost a full minute before she heard him turn and walk down the hall. Before he reached the top of the stairs, she needed one more answer from him.

“Loki,” she called, pulling open the door. He stopped immediately at the top of the stairs. She screwed up her face, unsure how to say what was really bother her.

“Yes,” he said, his voice calmer than she’d ever heard it.

“Is this really what you want?” she asked, motioning between the two of them.

“Yes,” he smiled warmly. Then he ducked his head and thundered down the steps.

 

She hadn’t thought about that night in such a long time. Even the entire time he was gone or sleeping on the couch, she didn’t think about it. She obsessed over later parts of their relationship, times when she knew now that he was in love with her and he was trying to push it down. She wondered now if even from the very beginning it was never just about sex for him. He clearly wanted something from her that was more than sex. He had intended to ‘court.’ Even though they only made it through five dates before they ended up devouring each other in bed and from that point on, sex was at the center of their relationship. They had to have each other. She smiled to herself because while some of that was still the case, so many other things were different now.

Loki was different now. He was...kind of family man. Or as much a family man as the God of Mischief can be. He was never going to be truly reformed, but he had turned some of that energy to lash out into an an energy to protect. He would probably grate someone into tiny shreds if they looked cross-eyed at their daughter and he had spent part of their day together not-so-subtly inquiring if Fandral had been hanging around at the edge of Darcy’s skirts. And Darcy knew, and was terrified to think, that if something happened to her or Anna, if his family went away, probably no one in the universe would be safe from his pain.

He needed a circle around him to protect him and lift him up, just like anybody needed. Darcy needed it to; outside of Loki, Jane, and her mom there wasn’t really anyone for her either. That was what was behind his pregnant sex fetish that he was always dropping hints about.

Darcy was pulled out of her thoughts by Jane’s relieved sigh. “Oh god Eir,” she gasped, “I feel ten times better.”

“As I said,” she smiled, “this drink has been used by women in Asgard for thousands of years. It is a perfected healing art.”

“It is amazing,” Jane sighed, “I feel like I could actually leave my room and do something!”

“Really?” Darcy asked, slightly amazed. “You don’t feel queasy at all anymore?”

“No,” Jane smiled, rubbing her belly. “I feel...I don’t know, kind of warm in there or something? Not gross or anything. It is a nice, kind of cozy feeling.”

“You can feel the baby,” Frigga said, smiling down at Anna, who had tired herself out and curled into her grandmother’s lap for a bit of a rest.

“That’s not possible,” Jane said, just as Darcy screwed up her face and said ‘nuh-huh.’

“Yes,” Eir smiled. “Once you calm the storm inside, you can feel the life. It is small now, so no movement. Just...little sparks, small connections. The baby is making connections within itself and within your body.”

“Hmm,” Jane mumbled, standing up off the bed and stretching. “Well, connect away baby,” she said, leaning over and talking to her belly. “You have to get big, but not so big that I can’t push you out.”

“Hey,” Darcy said, turning back towards Eir and Frigga, “what kind of drugs do you all have here? For you know, labor pains?”

“Oh, they are not drugs Darcy,” Frigga replied, “we use magic. Jane will need magic to give birth to an Aesir baby. I am actually surprised you were able to deliver Anna without it.”

Darcy hadn’t thought about that. If she had another baby on Asgard, it probably wouldn’t be as horrible as Anna’s birth because Frigga and Eir would know what to do with a half Jotun baby. That, she thought, as she watched Anna make her poop face and squirm in Frigga’s lap, was something to think about.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Consider this a pornographic rest stop before we return to the story :).

Darcy set her frown deep in her face as she stalked down the corridor to the prison cells. Apparently it had been two days since Odin lightened Loki’s guard and allowed him visitors. Two days and no one bothered to tell her until Thor mentioned that he and Loki had spoken. She settled in front of the clear, vibrating wall of his cell. There he stood, looking all hot and royal and shit, pacing and lost in thought. But she was still mad at him.

“I thought you would come join us last night. Or the night before,” she called out, no preamble necessary.

Loki raised his eyebrows and spun around to find his fiancee standing in front of him in a very flowy but clingy green dress that did a good deal of great things for her figure. Not that she needed any optical illusions. But her face was another story.

He faced his angry, but mostly excited, mate. “I find I am focused on my next steps,” he said smoothly, trying not to indicate that her presence affected him. “They occupy me.”

“You mean you are sitting down here brooding. You’re choosing brooding over all this.” She motioned to the length of her body dressed in silken green cloth. She did look...utterly fuckable.

“Not brooding,” he replied, narrowing his eyes at her teasing, “I am plotting. This requires plotting. As much as I would like to ‘snuggle’ with you, as you call it…”

“You love it,” Darcy grinned, calling him on his bullshit.

Loki scowled. He did love it. He had gone to bed alone only once before when Darcy and Jane went out for ‘girls night’ and he hated every second that she was gone and he was lying in bed without her. His arms ached with emptiness. He was ecstatic when she came home, even if they spent an hour huddled on the bathroom floor in front of the toilet because Darcy had too much to drink. “I have to think of our family and how we may gain an advantage in this situation,” he said deliberately. “As much as I wanted to come to bed with you and Anna, I had to test the waters here and plan my ultimate release from this tedium.”

“I want to kiss you,” she smiled, her eyes dancing with light. His infraction was forgotten because she had something else on her mind. Loki signalled to the guard across the corridor and Darcy gasped as the shimmering glow in front of her disappeared. Loki reached across the barrier and pulled her into the cell and the barrier re-emerged behind her.

“What the fuck?” she exclaimed, turning on him with wide eyes. “Can you get out of here during the day?”

He looked down the corridor and waved his hand at the guards, who turned and walked further away to give them some privacy. “No,” he said, rounding on her and taking her face in his hands, “but you can come in.”

“No one told me that,” she huffed, glaring at the guard and not responding quick enough to Loki’s advances. He tugged her face back towards him and his mouth descended upon hers and she moaned into his kiss. “That’s the stuff,” she sighed when he pulled back.

“I thought you wanted to kiss me,” he smirked as she shot another glare at the guard.

“I do,” she pouted, but then she bit her lip and her face filled with delight. She reached up to kiss him again, but he pulled back.

“Why are you so happy?” he asked, his voice hinting the tiniest bit of suspicious. They were awaiting his negotiations with Odin and he still didn’t know how he was going to keep Jane and Darcy alive as long as he and Thor. He was locked in a cell and she was making her way through the court of Asgard all alone. What was there to be happy about.

“Come to bed tonight,” she smiled, pulling on his tunic.

“I will, but tell me now.”

“If you come to bed tonight, I’ll give you something you want.”

“And that would be?” he smirked. There was almost nothing that Darcy hadn’t already given him. She’d let him dabble in his fascination with her milky breasts, she’d let him spend an entire night focused on her back door instead of the front, and, in a titillating act of true exhibitionism that made him harder that the Bifrost, they had sex against a tree in Central park on a particularly beautiful summer night.

“If you come to bed tonight,” she repeated, leaning up to kiss him again, “I’ll let you get me pregnant.”

His face lit up and his eyebrows hit his hairline. He never thought she would acquiesce so quickly. He had been dropping hints ever since their reunion, but he thought she would make him wait another year at least.

“Really?” he inquired, suddenly thinking this was perhaps too good to be true. “Why now?”

“Because I love you and I want our family and I don’t want to wait,” she sighed. “What if Odin doesn’t relent? What if we only have my life to make babies? I don’t want you to be alone when I die, I want you to have lots of kids. I’ve got you and your magic so it won’t be so hard this time and…”

“And what?” he asked quietly. These were all good enough reasons for him.

“And the idea of it kind of turns me on,” she whispered, reaching up to peck his lips. “Well,” she continued, “it mostly turns me on because it turns you on.”

“It does,” he nodded, catching his breath as a surge of arousal coursed through him. His brain filled with images of him and Darcy making love all night, of him filling her with so much of his seed that she overflowed with it. The idea of even one tiny piece of his DNA making its tenacious little way into her womb filled him with giddy excitement.

“And it has to be tonight,” she whispered conspiratorially. “And tomorrow night too and the night after just for good measure. I counted my days.”

He reached down to kiss her and wrapped both his hands around her buttocks, pulling her tightly against his swiftly hardening cock. She moaned into his kiss at the feel of him and he groaned as he groped her ass through the barely-there fabric of Asgardian gowns. He much prefered Asgardian dress; the material was so light and thin that he felt like she was practically naked against him. When he felt her nipples harden against his chest he had to back away. He knew that meant she would soon be wet for him and if he let himself go too far with that chain of thought he would take her right there and the wardens would definitely not approve. They might even make it even harder for him to sneak out at night.

“I will come to you tonight,” he whispered against her lips. “Put the baby in with my mother.”

 

Darcy groaned and flung herself over on her back. She had no idea what time it was, but she knew it was late. He said he was coming and so far, nada. She was starting to worry that something had happened in his attempt to sneak out of the dungeons. What if they caught him and strung him up. Odin was a twisted old bastard.

Just when she was resolved to get up and go hunt around the palace for him, she felt a tingling sensation on her lower calves. She would know that touch anywhere, the feel of Loki’s fingers on her skin was like crack. She smiled as she felt her knees being pushed apart and then she moaned when she felt the warm swipe of his lips against the inside of her thigh. But when she looked down at the bed, there was no evidence that there was a very large man crouched between her legs.

But then she felt his hands grip her ass, angling her hips up and his tongue was moving delicately through her folds. No, there was no doubt, he was there even if she couldn’t see him. She lifted the sheets and saw nothing but her own nakedness.

“Is invisible a new kink?” she gasped, switching her hips and thrusting up to his mouth as he circled her clit with the tip of his tongue. His only response was to drop his tongue down and dip it into her entrance, circling the soaking hole lightly and moaning as she slickened at his touch. Darcy groaned because she was getting very wet very fast. Maybe invisible was her new kink.

She whimpered as he traced her lips back and forth, pulling each into his mouth and sucking gently. She loved it when he did this slow and steady, it turned her on so much. “Ok fine,” she moaned, reaching her hands over her head to grip the pillow. “You can do this see-through style, but by the time you get up here I better be able to look into your eyes.” She could feel him chuckle, and he only renewed his efforts in response.

She bit her lip so hard she practically drew blood. It was always like this when Loki went down on her and he was craving her taste. He drove her mad with his teasing. She bucked her hips, offering herself up to his tongue, but he would just push her back into the bed. She wiggled against his mouth and his dirty groans as she smeared herself on his face just made it worse.

Finally, when she couldn’t take it anymore, she dropped own hand down and found the back of his head under the sheet. Maybe he was invisible, but he was still there. She yanked on his hair and he just shook his head no. She could practically feel him smirking into her dripping pussy.

“God damn it Loki!” she muttered, throwing the sheet back to finally see him between her legs. He looked up at her with his stupid grin. “Enough is enough!” she said. “Quit with the teasing. I’m going to mess this fucking perfect royal god bed!”

“I can take care of that,” he murmured, turning his head to lightly bite her thigh. He grabbed both her legs behind her knees and pushed them up and open, fully exposing her slick center to his gaze and the cool air of their dark room. “And besides,” he continued, dropping his head to kiss her clit, “why would I want to stop what I’m doing.” Darcy almost came at what he did next. He looked straight into her eyes, extended his tongue, and licked her up the length of her slit. “Everything down here,” he muttered, repeating the action and never dropping her gaze, “is warm and wet and soft and lovely.”

“Oh god…” she moaned, reaching for the back of his head again. She tried to pull him closer, but he just circled her clit with the tip of his tongue and shook his head no again.

“No, I intend to enjoy you my love,” he replied, lazily running his lips over the length of her swollen cunt and stretching his arms up the length of her body till his hands cupped her breasts. “You are the opposite of that prison cell and, quite frankly Darcy, you smell fucking fantastic.” Darcy yelped as he dropped his face into her folds, poking his nose in there and flicking his tongue against her opening. She couldn’t really handle his tongue dancing around down there as his thumb lazily played with her nipples. She felt every muscle in her body relax into a new wave of stronger arousal, and then he drew another wide wet lick up her lips till he could finish with a open mouthed kiss to her mound. “And you taste divine.” He then proceeded to lap at her entrance, not hard enough to actually make her cum, but intensely enough to coax even more of her wetness into his mouth. She squeezed her eyes shut and bore down. It was getting too hard now to not just yank him forward and grind against his face. Once he moved to practically suckling on her clit, she couldn’t take it any more.

“No,” she said, sitting up abruptly, “that’s enough. You have to stop. I need to cum with you inside me. You can finish this later.”

Loki pouted, but she could tell his heart wasn’t in it. “But later you’re going to taste like me,” he said.

“And you like that,” she said, pulling him up to his knees by the back of his upper arms and trying to maneuver him onto his back. “In fact,” she reasoned, “if you go down on me after you cum, you’ll get hard again faster.”

Loki sighed because she was right; licking the last remnants of his seed out of her made his cock weep with need. And he knew very well that they both intended this to last all night. So he relented and collapsed onto his back, very much enjoying the view of Darcy’s full breasts as she tsettled herself on his thighs, stroking his length firmly just the way she knew he liked it.

“Are you ready?” she asked, her eyes alight with the kind of lust that drove him crazy. He simply nodded because he had a sense that Darcy was going to have her way with him.

He was right. Soon enough she was crawling over him, dragging her sopping folds over the length of his cock. “I’m going to ride you till you cum Loki,” she whispered, trailing her lips up his jaw to his ear. “I want to see your face when you cum inside me.” She reached between them and pulled him to her entrance and Loki moaned at the first feel of her softness against the tip of his cock. “After that you can put me on my back and fuck me five ways to Sunday,” she continued, teasing him slightly by running him around her clit, “but first we are gonna do it like this because the idea of you cumming inside of me and trying to make a baby is driving me crazy.”

She bit her lip and raised her eyebrow, signaling her seriousness, but he grabbed her hips and pulled her against him abruptly. “You first, my darling,” he murmured, reaching up to lick his way into her mouth. “You have to finish what I started.” Loki took deep, steady breaths as Darcy shifted her hips and sank down on him. It had been too long for them by now and just the sound of Darcy’s thrill at him filling her was too much for him. He knew she expected a long night, he wanted it as well, and he could not get too overwhelmed by how much he had simply missed her. He was a god after all, even if his desire for her broke him down. He was perfectly happy to fall apart in her arms. Somehow she put him back together.

Thankfully she started slow. She stretched her body against his, working him deeper into her soaking cunt inch by inch, and splayed her legs on either side of his thighs, bending her knees for a little leverage. She stretched her arms up above his head and pressed her breasts into his chest. All he would need to do was tug up on her ribs a bit and she would raise her breast to his mouth. That would come soon enough, but for now she started a slow rocking, rolling her hips down against him and he knew how much she loved this position.

He enjoyed it while it lasted, the slow rocking of her body over his, her rock hard nipples against his flesh, and mostly, the tiny moans and sighs coming from her luscious mouth. But she was on the edge soon, not just from his cock but from the pressure on her clit, which was still overstimulated from his tongue. “Loki” she whimpered into his mouth, her kiss melting into a gasp. He took his moment to lift her higher, attaching his mouth to her breast and biting and sucking the full nub until she was writhing on top of him, riding him just as much as she needed. He gripped her ass with both hands and helped her move, resisting the urge to lift his hips and thrust into her. She didn’t need that now; she needed the pressure, the wet glide, and throbbing heat of the base of his cock.

Darcy knew she was seconds away, her walls fluttering around him, and she could just barely tell through her ecstasy how much he was holding back for her. Small beads of sweat gathered at his hairline just below her gaze. God, she thought as his fingers dug into her ass and his tongue twisted around her nipple in his mouth, I love him so much.

She focused, because the sooner she moved through the climax he had started with his mouth, the sooner she could make him cum and that was the part she really wanted to see. She dropped her head and flexed her arms, pushing even harder. She felt him falter the tiniest bit, lifting his hips towards her and it actually helped by putting just a bit more pressure just where she needed it. She came like a deep sigh, her whole body shaking in his arms as her pussy pulled him deeper and gripped him tighter. She felt him twitch below her before his arms wrapped around her and tugged her close, holding her and rocking her through it.

They both lay there for a moment, panting and too overwhelmed to move. Loki thought if he shifted too much he would probably cum and that wasn’t what she wanted. So he had to rub her back and stay still and try to bring her back to reality. So he stroked every part of her he could reach that wouldn’t actually change the angle of her wrapped around his cock. As long as they stayed still and nestled against each other like this...he might be ok.

Eventually she lifted her head from his chest and kissed him. “Good?” he whispered.

“Magnificent,” she replied. “Are you ok?”

“For now, but if you could…”

Darcy grinned. There was something about this weirdly practical moment during sex that she loved. It was so honest between them. He needed to start again and she knew it and he wanted her to have what she wanted so he was trying not to...and it just so fucking endearing. It wasn’t always like this. When they were regularly having sex, Loki could fuck her for hours without cumming. But now, unless he was masturbating in his see-through cage, he hadn’t been stimulated like this for weeks and he was a bit desperate. It was like their first night back together. He wanted so much to please her, but he was overwhelmed by being inside of her. He wasn’t so god-like all the time.

She shifted her hips and Loki whimpered as he easily, almost too easily, slipped out of her and landed against his stomach with an audible smack. “By Valhalla Darcy,” he groaned reaching up to grasp her face and bring her down for a kiss, “you are so wet.”

“I told you,” she giggled, “tonight’s the right night.”

He quirked his brow. “This is how Midgardians can tell?”

“One of the ways,” she smiled, pushing up to sit on his thighs. “Well, sort of. I mean there is more, but mostly its just you and how long its been…”

“Too long,” he scowled.

“Let’s not worry about that,” she said, creeping backwards until she was over him on all fours. She leaned down till she was face first in his groin and Loki started to whimper as she carefully licked her way around his shaft, staying far away from the most sensitive parts.

“You’re not going to get what you want if you’re not careful,” he warned.

“I’m being careful!” she objected, looking up at him with a grin. She kept her eyes locked on his as she let her tongue drift lower and starting lapping her hot tongue across his balls and then blowing cool air on his skin.

“No,” he gasped, shifting away from her, “you’re trying to return to the favor. Please Darcy, just do it now.”

She smiled again before crawling slowly back up his body, maybe slower than she needed to. She could feel his cock lifting and flexing against her, trying to get back inside and he could no longer keep his ass planted to the bed. She smiled as she kissed him again and his hands grabbed her ass and tugged her close.

“No,” she said shaking her head and sitting up on him again. “I want to do it the other way. I know you like to watch.”

“Oh you darling woman,” he moaned as she splayed her legs and eased her ass back on to his thighs. She planted her feet flat on the bed and gripped his thighs to raise herself up. When she opened her legs to him, his cock lifted straight up like he was reaching for her. She grabbed him and gently tapped him against her clit a few times. Then she lifted herself a bit and lined him up and Loki shuddered as he watched her sink down on his cock. He bent his knees slightly behind her to get more leverage and now he layed back because she was going to give him a show.

And she never disappointed him. Hips, breasts, thighs, her face. Everything for him to watch as she moved. Sometimes she went up and down, side to side, back and forth, in a circle. Everytime he thought he might get close from one movement she switched to another, constantly taking him higher and higher than even he thought he could go in that moment. There were certain parts of sex with Darcy that Loki couldn’t get used to; they got to him every time. For instance, the sound of her voice and they way she moaned in rhythm with his cock. How she said his name and bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. The way the walls of her quim quaked around him.

He noticed her breathing grow quicker, her brow furrow, a small drop of sweat run down the side of her neck. He grit his teeth at the idea of changing position, but he knew she was getting tired. “My love, do you want me to…” he tried to sit up in an effort to roll her over.

“No” she yelped, digging her fingernails into his skin and moving her hips faster. “I’m so close. Are you close?”

“Yes,” he hissed, his eyes moving down the length of her body. Watching her did amazing things to him.

“You feel so good Loki, this is driving me crazy,” she moaned. “Are you watching?”

His eyes dropped down to where they were joined and he almost came right then. Dear gods, she was leaving creamy trails of her need for him up and down the length of his cock. He couldn’t even respond to her with words, he just grunted and moaned and grabbed her thighs, helping her move as much as he could.

“Fuck!” she screamed, as the end started inside her. He could feel the storm building. Her thighs shook in his palms and her walls quivered around him. “Oh god Loki,” she moaned, “I’m gonna cum.” His eyes locked on the wet, flushed lips wrapped around his cock. Any second now she would explode and he could watch her whole center lock down on him.

Except he didn’t get to see. The second he felt the first contraction of her muscles around his cock he felt the shock run from his ass to his balls and up through his cock. He exploded inside of her and he shouted her name as they came in unison. It didn’t always happen, but when it did, they were all hands and limbs reaching for each other. He shot up and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her down on his cock, and buried his face in her breasts. He felt her orgasm dragging out, swallowing his cock over and over, and with each heated throb he felt another explosion from deep inside of himself. He hadn’t cum in over two weeks, two long weeks spent waiting for her in a dungeon. By gods, he would fill her up now.

When it finally slowed, they collapsed back onto the bed in a sweaty mess. He held her on his chest, keeping himself inside of her until he started to soften. Then he rolled her over on her back and Darcy let out a content but tired moan as he slipped out of her and pulled her legs up. She let him raise her legs and her hips, wrapping her arms under her knees and pulling them to her chest. She felt him kiss down the back of her thighs to what she knew was her soaked and swollen center. She felt him leave kisses all over her folds and when the tiniest bit of his cum started to leak out, she could only smile as he ran his finger over her, slipping it inside her the tiniest bit, and murmured to himself. “No,” he said, “back you go. Return to your quest and make me a baby.”


	26. Chapter 26

Darcy awoke before dawn to the feeling of Loki’s lips moving up and down her throat. After making good on her suggestion that he fuck her five ways to Sunday, he had fallen asleep with his head buried in her breasts, her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders. The beat of her mortal heart and the swell of her breast comforted him and made him feel tied to something and someone else in the universe. He had never felt that way before.

Her legs were still spread around his hips, so he didn’t need to move too much to do what he wanted. He simply kept covering every inch of skin beneath him with kisses until she stirred.

“What time is it?” she groaned, lifting her head to look out the window. “Still dark,” she mumbled, letting her head drop back to the pillow. “We can still sleep. We haven’t been asleep that long.”

Now he was moving down her body, cupping her breasts in his hands, teasing her nipples, nuzzling her skin. “No,” he murmured, “I must depart before it is light out.” Darcy only shook her head no and wrapped her legs around the back of his thighs. “Darling,” he said gently as her hands grabbed his upper arms and her grip tighten, “it won’t be much longer.”

“I hate it here Loki,” she whispered and it pained him to hear so much sadness locked in her throat. “I want to go home, lay on our couch, and be pregnant. You can give me foot rubs and magic me up some fudgesicles.”

Loki smiled at the image. That was the woman he’d fallen in love with, out of all the women across nine realms, and she was perfect. “Would it be so bad here if I was with you all the time?” he asked, pausing in his attentions. He laid his head on her stomach, just above where he hoped something amazing was happening. His thumb moved idly back and forth below her belly button and he relaxed when he felt her fingers comb through his hair.

“No it wouldn’t,” she said softly. “I think I could appreciate things differently if it wasn’t for all the drama...and the missing you part.”

He lifted his head and smiled. “I think, my love, that I can leave you with such a memory that you won’t miss me all day.”

Darcy lifted her eyebrows. “You think so, huh? And how are you planning on topping my memories of last night?”

“Hmm…” he hummed, slipping his hand down between her legs. She was still wet and he was already hard. He raised above her again, leaning down to give her a tiny sweet kiss. He easily distracted her with kisses, lulling her with small swipes of his tongue and the short, warm press of his lips. He distracted her so much that he delighted in her gasp and surprise when he pushed the tip of his cock through her folds, teasing her entrance and stroking her clit in one quick move. “I intend,” he murmured, sinking his hips down and pressing into her, “to make love to you as slowly as possible and kiss you the entire time. Will that be enough to get through the day?” He wanted to burn the feeling of his body into her memory forever.

“I think so,” she whispered in reply and Loki shivered as her hands ran down his back and grasped his ass, pulling him forwards and into her. He lost his breath and his vision went blurry as he felt her warmth surround him and drag him into her core. Maybe he was the one who wanted to remember her all day.

 

Dary stretched and rolled over into the expanse of an empty bed. She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. It was light outside and Loki was gone. She clenched her thighs at the satisfying soreness she felt there; he certainly did make sure she’d be thinking about him all day. She sighed and dragged herself out of bed, starting the rituals of bathing and dressing so that she could go and collect her baby from Frigga.

After several weeks of navigating being a pseudo-princess, Darcy was finally a bit blase about the process of servants. She knew there was no point in resisting and also no point in trying to do anything herself, but she always made sure to be respectful and grateful. She relished her only alone time in this process, and since she knew Anna was being well cared for, she stood under the waterfall shower in her bathing chamber until she felt almost new again.

But she wasn’t new. She felt tired in her bones; tired of fighting and negotiating and trying. She’d had only a couple of months of peace with Loki after two years of drama with him and about him and now here she was locked in another never ending story. She felt a bit listless as the servants did her hair and dressed her. The only thought that made her smile was remembering that they were trying to get pregnant.

The closer she got to being ready to go get Anna the more angry she was about the situation they were in. Why did Odin have the right to just yank them from one realm, shove them in Asgard, lock up Loki and throw away the key? Loki hadn’t done anything, but he wanted to. That was the problem and, better than either of these gods, Darcy thought she knew what the problem actually was.

It was almost noon by the time she made her way to Frigga’s chambers. She knew the queen would be serving lunch on her expansive balconies overlooking  the gardens and most likely, if she wasn’t nauseous, Jane and Thor would be there as well. The company would help Darcy to hide how she really felt.

But Darcy did not find the company she wanted to keep. Instead, as the doors to Frigga’s suites opened and she heard someone announcing her name, all she could see in front of her was white shaggy hair and a long red cape. Its wearer was holding her baby.

“Allfather,” she said as calmly as possible, bowing her head and courtesing slightly. It wasn’t like she never saw him around in the halls, so she’d been instructed on how to greet him. He looked up at her silently as Frigga stood behind him.

“Darcy,” she said warmly, “please come in.” Anna was already squirming in Odin’s arms and reaching out for her mother, so Darcy didn’t need an invitation. Instead she strode straight up to the king and reached out for her baby, swiftly taking Anna as she babbled ‘mama’ over and over.

Neither Frigga or Odin missed the way in which Darcy grasped her baby to her chest and Frigga clearly saw the betrayal in Darcy’s gaze. “My dear,” she said softly, motioning towards a chair, “would you like to sit down?”

“Thank you, but no,” Darcy said cooly, moving Anna onto her hip. “I think Anna and I would benefit from a walk.”

“Let us sit,” Odin said, his voice landing like a brick in the room. His cape flipped and then he was perched on the edge of a seat. Frigga still smiled at Darcy and motioned to another chair. Darcy narrowed her eyes and sunk into the cushion, settling Anna in her lap, but holding her with her arms around her waist.

Frigga nodded and smiled at her servants and suddenly the doors were closing and it was just the four of them alone. Darcy tensed immediately and Anna sensed it, whimpering and turning into her mother’s lap. Darcy directed her attention to Anna, who wanted to be held on her shoulder, and they sat in silence for several moments before Frigga cleared her throat.

“I suspect you did not expect to see Odin here this morning,” she said gently. Darcy shot her a look. That was the understatement of the year.

“No.”

“Anna had a very good evening, she slept very well and she had a good breakfast this morning,” Frigga smiled. “And after she had her fruit, milk, and grains, her grandfather came to play with her.”

“I see that.”

“And we sang a few songs from my home and Anna practiced her walking…”

“And we had a grand time,” Odin interrupted, his voice already taking on an edge, “while you slept the morning away, recovering from a night spent in bed with my son.”

“Odin!” Frigga said sharply as Darcy’s eye practically bugged out of her head.

“Is it not true?” he replied. “He has been my son for a thousand years, she is not the first woman I have seen sleep all morning after a night with him.” Frigga swore under her breath as Darcy blushed furiously and Anna twitched in her arms, but she didn’t miss his words. I see you old man, she thought to herself.

“But she is the first that he has loved,” Frigga said, her voice growing lower. Odin cocked his head, as if he was considering this as a possibility for the first time.

“Well,” Darcy sighed, securing Anna to her shoulder and moving to stand, “this is horrible. I think I’ll just go.” The second she stood, she saw Odin tense out the corner of her eye.

“No,” he said, firmly, “stay.”

“Why?” she said, turning back to him and shifting her baby onto her hip. He just stared at her silently as if he had no idea what the word meant. She narrowed her eyes. “I guess you don’t hear that often, huh?”

“No,” he said, “I don’t.”

“Well,” she continued, going for broke, “you heard me so you can choose to answer it or not. I would like to know exactly why I should stay here in the presence of someone who only wants to degrade me and, for all I know, my daughter.” She shot Frigga a pointed look. They had not discussed Anna’s exposure to Odin, but it wouldn’t take much to realize that Darcy would not be ok with it, especially if she was not present.

“Our interactions this morning have been very gentle and pleasant,” Frigga chimed in.

“You called her a mongrel,” Darcy hissed.

“That was the outcome of an unfortunate situation,” Odin relented. “I did not mean to take my anger at Loki out on the child.”

“I don’t think it was the outcome of an unfortunate situation,” Darcy argued. “Either you think that way or you don’t. Sometimes what we say in anger tells the truth much more than the pretty things we say to be polite.”

Neither Frigga or Odin could deny the truth in her words and Frigga couldn’t help the small smile that crossed her lips. She suspected that Darcy wouldn’t take much from Odin and that Loki would need her to force the conversation. Now might be the opportune time.

“Look,” Darcy sighed, frustrated by their silence, “I’m really tired of this and I’m ready to go home. Your planet is nice and all, but you tossed my baby daddy in jail and are basically holding my family hostage and enough is enough. Either we talk about this situation for real, or I’m going to start plotting my getaway.”

Odin stood quickly and Darcy could see even through the armor that his body was tense with anger. Maybe she’d overdone it.

“Fine,” he said, heading towards the balcony, “let us discuss. Frigga will keep the baby.”

Darcy watched him stalk out to the balcony, cape flowing behind him, and Frigga immediately came towards her to take Anna. “Do not fear him,” Frigga said, her voice low, “his bark is worse than his bite and he is already shifting his position. Be honest.”

Darcy paused at the door and when she saw he was sitting just off from a table laden with food, her stomach reminded her she hadn’t eaten in about a million years. She decided to hover and peck, putting a bit of physical distance between them.

She shoved a few grapes in her mouth and started to fill a plate with cheese and bread. “So,” she sighed, putting on her most tired voice, “can you and I talk, you know, as equals?”

Odin shifted uncomfortably and looked away from her. “We are not equals.”

Darcy took advantage of his not looking at her to give him an exaggerated eye roll. “I see where Loki gets it,” she sighed, watching every move he made. She didn’t miss the way his eyebrow raised slightly. “Anyway, what I mean,” she continued, “is that I’ll say what I want because you are not my king.”

“I am not,” he nodded.

“Because I don’t have a king,” she continued. “I have a free mind and a free heart and I live in a democracy. That, in my opinion, is one thing Midgard has got up on this joint.”

Odin smiled at her slightly. “You are slaves in your own way.”

“And so are Asgardians,” she said simply. “We are all bowing down to something it looks like. Lucky you.” She watched his bemused expression for a minute, unsure if he was amused by her or bewildered. Loki often looked like that as well. She decided to keep on. “But in the immediate, I’d just like to be honest because under the best-case scenario you and I have got a couple thousand years to be in-laws. And under the worst case scenario, you kill me or you kill Loki or you banish one of us and take our kid away and whatever evil, petty shit you have floating around in your head. In which case, what have I got to lose? And the way I see it you and Loki could keep this pissing contest going forever and I have other things I want to do with my life so what else is there to do but just talk about it.”

Odin relaxed back in her chair, possibly enjoying the game of diplomacy. “You are very abrupt and direct Miss Lewis.”

“I majored in political science,” she shrugged, “I don’t have a problem dealing with conflict.”

“So you say.”

“If I did, do you think I would have your son in my life? It takes a pretty big dose of chutzpah to tame a raging god with the emotional stability of a toddler. And then turn him into a man.” Darcy tried to disguise her deep breath. She wasn't stupid enough to deny what she was implying.

“Chutzpah?” Odin queried.

“Yeah, chutzpah. You know, brave, impertinent, bold, audacious…”

“Ah, yes,” he nodded in recognition.

“In other words, I’ve got big balls. Metaphorically. Even if that metaphor is sexist.”

“Clearly,” Odin said, his voice betraying what he really thought.

Darcy just smiled. “You know your son sneered at me for months because of my ‘insolence.’ He still does it sometimes, but he thinks I don’t see. I won’t just do what he wants all the time.”

“And how did you correct him?”

“It wasn’t hard,” she said, popping a berry-type thing in her mouth. “I don’t know if you realize this, but when he came to Earth to do his time Loki he was just about the loneliest creature I ever met. And it wasn’t hard to tell that he’d been lonely for a very, very long time. All it took was relentless kindness and invitation and soon enough he jumped at the idea that someone might actually care about him because he was simply there and he was interesting enough as just himself, not a prince or a God or any other impossible thing.”

Odin stiffened considerably, his relaxed vibe disappearing with the breeze. Darcy realized that talking about broken Loki was going to force some shit with him. She sat down in a chair across from him. “Let’s make an agreement, you and I.”

“Of what sort?”

“The sort where you don’t zap me with any hateful magic. And try to listen before you yell. And don’t get all pissed off and run away. Cause we’re gonna traffic in hard truths.”

Odin narrowed his eye at her. Darcy found that creepy. “Agreed,” he nodded, “hard truths will be told. Of what sort do you speak?”

“The part where we talk about why your kingdom is so beautiful and your family is so fucked up.”

Odin snapped up in his chair, ready to storm out, but then realized he would only be proving her point. She had made it clear that perhaps the proverbial apple had not fallen far from the five thousand year old tree. “Well then,” he continued, leaning over towards her, “are you prepared for the truths I will tell you?”

“I’m excited actually.”

She continued to catch him off guard. He found it unnerving. “How so?”

“Well, Loki has fessed up to a lot of stuff, so I’m interested to know what he hasn’t told me that his daddy might. Because that is what you want to do, correct? Try to undermine our relationship by telling me horrible things about him?”

Odin kept his mouth shut. She was too perceptive, it was dangerous. She would make an excellent queen.

“The thing is,” she continued, reaching behind her to pluck a piece of bread from the table, “I already forgave him. Loki has done a lot of terrible shit and most of that terrible shit he’s actually done to me and people I care about. I know he did some other terrible shit in the 997 years before I knew him, but he’s really outdone himself in the last few. So, if I can forgive him that, I’m not that afraid you can tell me something that’s gonna make me bolt. I mean, he did try to commit a genocide and I still want to have sex with him.”

Odin stayed silent for a minute while Darcy chewed. It was becoming clear he had underestimated the bond his son had formed with this mortal. He wondered if his other son and his mortal lover were equally fixed on each other. They did not have a child and Miss Foster was not quite so...unique...as Miss Lewis, but he certainly understood what Loki found attractive about her. She clearly wouldn’t put up with an of his diversions and she still loved him.

Odin leaned back, his amusement coming around again. He wanted to know what it was she thought she knew about his relationship with his son. “And your hard truths, Miss Lewis, where do they begin?”

Darcy’s face lost her smile. “Not where you think, I suspect.”

“No?” Odin asked, “not with Loki’s crimes? With his betrayal of his family and his realm?”

“No, but I can see how that was very disappointing,” she relented.

“That my son attempted to destroy two different worlds?”

“Well, yeah,” Darcy replied. “But I don’t think it would be possible to see your child do something like that and not wonder how that came to be. And then eventually any decent parent would just arrive back at themselves, it’s only natural. So I was more thinking about that, plus the fact that you lied to him his whole life…”

“That was not my intention.”

“...and you’re a big ole racist,” she finished. “You taught him to hate himself. Was that your intention?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “I got issues with my parents too. But they start before I existed, as they do with all parents, and so they do with you as well.”

Odin hardened again. This mortal was presumptuous. “My intention was for him to be loyal to Asgard.”

Darcy crossed her legs and sat back in her chair. “Well, the only thing he’s loyal to now is me, so I can see how that’s disappointing for you as well. You wanted him to be good because he wanted your love, right?”

“There is nothing wrong with wanting the favor of your father.”

“No, but there is something wrong with making them think they don’t deserve it unless they give you what you want. Don’t you think our children deserve our love simply because they are? And what about with wanting the favor of your son? Because you haven’t exactly wound up in the place you wanted to be and you either won’t or can’t consider the course of your own actions that have led you here in the first place.”

“I raised Loki to love Asgard first and himself second. Gaining the love of your father is the same as the love of the people, the love of the realm. He was no ordinary child…”

“I can only imagine.”

“Loki has always been impertinent, unsatisfied, arrogant, and selfish.”

“I’ve seen all that mess,” Darcy sighed, waving her hand. “But I doubt the ‘always’ part. Do you think our wife is stupid or are you possibly wrong, because according to Frigga he was a kind, sensitive child. Something happened to him.”

“He was too sensitive. He has always been too sensitive,” Odin spit.

“And too smart for his own good.”

“Yes,” Odin nodded, seeing that his son’s woman understood far more than he had given her credit for. “Is this the extent of your hard truths Miss Lewis, because I’m an old man and I cannot sit and listen to the past all day. My past is very very long.”

“You know, Frigga gave me a good piece of advice the first time she came to visit Anna. She told me that you can’t control who your children become, all you can do is teach them to make good choices.” Odin just stared at her and Darcy figured her time had run out. Besides, she could hear Anna laughing in the other room and she missed her baby. “And you didn’t do that, with either of them,” she continued. “You raised them to think they were better than everyone else and when they found out they weren’t, it bit you in the ass. Own up dude. We aren’t going to get anywhere with this if you don’t.”

Darcy sighed and stood up, wanting to get away from him and give him his space. She wasn’t going to fix this is one sitting, especially if she was right about Odin and Loki being more similar than either wanted to admit. “Despite all this arguing,” she said softly, looking out over the gardens of the palace, “I know this isn’t really about Loki having the power to control time. This is about him not needing you and being happy somewhere else. This is about him turning away instead of being thrown out. Really, both of them have done that to you and you can’t make your peace with it, but you seem intent to take everyone down with you.”

Odin stood abruptly and marched to the balcony doors, more than ready to take his leave of Miss Lewis. He had given her more liberties than he should, but she saw more than he would have liked.

“He’ll fight you forever,” she said to his back. “He’s a father now. You should know how fathers can be.”


	27. Chapter 27

“I feel like your mother knows,” Darcy sighed, stretching her arms above her head and pointing her toes.

“Knows what?” Loki asked. Darcy smiled as he stood up from the bed and stretched himself. He’d crawled into bed an hour ago and without so much as a ‘how’s it going’ he was all over her, whispering his dirty little fantasies about filling her with his seed. He made her cum three times before he finally lost it and even though it was just the beginning of the night, he was feeling pretty satisfied with himself. He turned to scan the room for wine, trying to both listen to Darcy and replenish his strength before he took her again. He was a man on a mission.

“That I’m ovulating and that’s why I asked her to keep Anna again tonight,” Darcy replied. She sat up in bed and bit her lip as her hot-ass god of a fiance walked around her room. “In other words, that you and I are fucking our brains out.”

“Darcy,” he called, not even looking over shoulder. “On your back my love, legs up.”

Darcy groaned and flopped back down, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms underneath them. She lifted her hips a bit and sighed. “There’s no proof this works,” she replied, staring up at the ceiling, “and its not sexy.”

“That’s because you can’t see what I can see,” he said, and she could hear it in his voice. She peeked around her knees and there he was, leaning against a table at the end of the bed, drinking a glass of wine, and already sporting a semi. He was also staring lasciviously at her wet folds. “In particular, I see a little pink spot that I have not paid attention to in some time. Although it would be all for not, since I cannot impregnate you by leaving my seed in there.”

“Pervert,” she called as he cackled in response. “But I’m serious about Frigga.”

“She probably does know,” he replied, throwing back the last of his wine and refilling the glass. “Frigga sees things that she never discusses. She has foresight.” He climbed back on the bed, kneeling just below her. He handed her the glass of wine and reached down to grip her hips. He pulled them up until her ass was resting on his thighs and her entire pelvis was tilted up. “That’s better,” he said, taking the wine back.

“How long do I have to do this?” she sighed.

“Just a few minutes,” he replied, swallowing another mouth full. “I have been sitting in the dungeon all day plotting our night together, so I have several more elaborate scenarios to guide you through.”

“You’ve been sitting down there thinking about sex all day?” she smiled.

“You told me not to brood.”

“That’s true,” she relented. She threw her arms over her head and arched her back. Her intention was to feel the stretch, but Loki growled and pushed her legs open, bending over her to take one bud of her breast in his mouth. He started a little game, dribbling wine over her breasts and then chasing it quickly with his tongue. Darcy ran her fingers through his hair and let him play.

“I think your father knows too,” she eventually said, reluctant to break up this pleasant scene with unwelcome news. But she had to tell him about her day.

“What,” Loki hissed, his face immediately taking on a scowl.

“I talked to him today, for a while. And it started by him pointing out that I’d spent the night with you.”

Loki pushed himself up above her, caging her body with his. She visibly saw him deflate at the mention of Odin, although he didn’t seem concerned that Odin knew he was out of his cage. “You spoke with him? Why did you not tell me?”

“Because you poofed yourself in here and started the sexy times without even saying hello! What was I supposed to do? Bring up your dad while you had two fingers inside me?”

Loki groaned and rolled away from her. Darcy seized her chance to steal the wine and take a rather sizable gulp. He was distracted enough that she managed to sit up while doing it.

“Look,” she said, taking another sip of wine, and moving to straddle him. He was still half hard, so whatever was happening in his head wasn’t totally ruining the moment. “I simply told him how I felt about all of this and I asked him to do a bit of soul searching. It wasn’t a big deal.”

“And he listened to you?”

“Well, he promised not to poof me into nothing. And I think it helped that he spent the morning with Anna. She softened him up for it.” Loki frowned. He didn’t know how he felt about his daughter spending time with her grandfather. “I know,” Darcy sighed, “but Frigga did that without telling me.”

“Will you bring her down to me tomorrow?” he asked, his voice going a bit weak.

“Of course,” Darcy whispered, leaning down to kiss. “All day.” She kissed him again and he responded weakly, clearly pouting about this piece of news. So she kissed him again and undulated her hips slowly, pressing her wet center against the hot length of his cock. He grunted a tiny bit and lifted his hips, growing harder under her ministrations. “I don’t want to talk about your parents,” she murmured, kissing down his jaw and licking his neck in his favorite place.

“Neither do I,” he gasped in reply. Darcy was too good at this. She has someone managed to slip his shaft in between her swollen lips and was now guiding them up and down his length. It was maddening.

She rose above him just enough to look him in the eye. “Did one of your sexy scenarios involve me on top?” she murmured, licking her lips. Now she was sliding him far enough forward that he was bumping her clit on every pass. He watched her shiver in delight.

“Yes, definitely,” he replied, gripping her hips. “You are enchanting to watch.”

She smiled and leaned away from him to deposit the glass on the bedside table. She bit her lip as she felt his hands move up from her hips, ghost over her ribs, and then cup her breasts from below. He squeezed them gently and brushed his thumbs across her nipples, hardening them with a simple cool touch. She settled herself back over him and he continued to caress her, lifting his hips slightly to hint that he was ready to make love.

Darcy grinned and lifted herself, only barely needing to move in order to nudge him to her center and sink down. She sighed in satisfaction as he easily slid inside, filling her in only the way that Loki could. He felt like he was made for her. She covered his hands with her own as she started to move, encouraging his massage and keeping her eyes locked on his. As much as Loki loved to simply fuck her, he also loved it like this. Slow. Intimate. Quiet. Especially when he was feeling vulnerable.

Before long he sat up, wrapping an arm around her hips to help her to ride him, and taking her breast in his mouth. She dropped her chin to her chest so her mouth was just above his head and she moaned his name quietly in his ear. She slid one hand in his hair at the base of his head and wrapped her other arm around his shoulders, holding him to her as his free hand and his mouth worked across her pillowed flesh that he loved so much. She felt a tremor go through his muscles and her mind turned with the possibilities.

She started a rhythm inside her, clenching her walls around him in a throbbing pace that she knew would drive him over the edge. She held him against her as she rode him, her hips moving imperceptibly faster as she worked him inside of her. She left kisses on his temple, ran her fingers through his hair, scratched his back, and before long he was panting against her breasts, whimpering her name as he realized her unrelenting aim.

“Cum baby,” she whispered in his ear, hitching her hips to ride him just the slightest bit faster. “It feels so good Loki,” she murmured. “I love you so much.”

She held him when he came, groaning and burying his face in her neck. She felt it fill her, the familiar satisfying burst of him inside of her. She ground down on him, careful not to overstimulate him but also trying to make it last. His fingers gripped her hips mercilessly in his fog and she felt his teeth connect with the line of her throat. “Oh Loki,” she moaned as she pushed herself down on him, feeling burst after burst inside her. He shivered in her arms and held her tighter and she thought, for just a second, that she might actually cum herself. It was way too arousing to be with him like this. No one else, she thought to herself, gets to have him like this. Only me. Only me forever.

 

Loki paced his cell, worrying what was keeping Darcy and Anna. When he left Darcy’s bed just before dawn, she promised she would be down by mid-morning. He wasn’t exactly sure what time it was, but he felt sure that he had waited long enough. He had spent his morning conjuring play things for Anna so that they could have a lovely day together.

Eventually he heard the rhythmic stomp of the guards and encircled in a group of them was his wife, he already thought of her as such, and his daughter.

“Sorry,” Darcy called, clearly flustered as she bounced Anna on her hip. “We had a little incident.” She shifted her gaze to the guards as they stopped in front of Loki’s cell. She tried to be conscious of the fact that to these soldiers, Loki was a prince and deeply feared. She couldn’t exactly start in on domestic problems as if you talk to a prince of Asgard about baby bowels on a regular basis.

“What has happened?” he said, his face lined with worry.

“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head as the forcefield in his cell disappeared. She stepped through and Loki was immediately at her side. “She just pooped through right before we left. It was immense.”

“How is that possible?” Loki asked, his voice clearly concerned. Anna didn’t get sick.

“She likes this fruit that your mother feeds her and this morning Thor gave her a ton of it without thinking and...bam.”

“Ah.” Loki knew exactly which fruit she was referring to and also that Thor loved it as well and had never put two and two together that too much of that particular delicacy activated the bowels of even the god of thunder himself.

“But it all worked out fine because she was sitting in his lap when it happened.”

Loki barrelled over in laughter before reaching for his daughter. “My darling princess!” he cried, “you have made your father proud.” But then something happened that had never happened before. Anna turned away from him and clung to Darcy’s dress, pushing her little body further into her mother’s arms.

For a split second, neither of them understood what was happening. Loki advanced on her again, laying his hand gently on her back and leaning forward. She whimpered and pulled away, throwing her arms around Darcy’s neck and clinging to her tightly.

Loki blanched, overwhelmed and confused. He felt a sudden pain rip through his chest at the realization that she didn’t want him. She always wanted him. When she was upset and could not sleep, she practically leapt out of her crib and into his arms. When he stood up from their play on the floor, she whimpered and thrust her arms in the air, begging him to take her wherever he was going. In the hour before her nap when she was too tired to play but not enough to sleep, she only wanted her daddy. She would bury her face in his neck and her little puffs of breath against his skin where the most comforting feeling of his entire life. When her teeth were hurting her, she liked to chew on his cold fingers, snuggled tightly in his lap.

“Anna, honey,” Darcy whispered, rubbing her back, “don’t you want to play with daddy?” She shot Loki a heartbroken look. She knew what it was about; weeks on Asgard and she’d only had that one day with her father. He’d just disappeared. She knew exactly how Anna felt.

Loki reached out and brushed his fingers through her curls. “I made all your favorite toys darling,” he murmured. She didn’t turn to him, she only pressed her face harder into her mother’s skin.

“Ok,” Darcy said, bouncing Anna slightly as Loki shrunk away in despair, “I have an idea. Let’s go lay on the bed together.” She toed off her shoes and silently padded over to Loki’s bed. He followed clumsily behind her, shedding boots and armor until he was just in his tunic and pants. He propped the pillows up on the bed a bit and Darcy eased back, settling Anna on her chest. Loki climbed in next to them and wrapped his arm around Darcy’s shoulders, pulling her against him. This was their morning routine. Between waking up and actually getting up, they all cuddled in bed together for as long as they could stand it before Darcy was starving. Usually Anna had her morning nurse and pulled on Loki’s fingers while she ate and when she was done, she moved back and forth between her parents, babbling at them as if she had many important things to tell them.

But this morning she stayed quiet. She huddled on her mother’s chest and turned her large blue eyes on her father, as if she couldn’t quite trust him. He slumped down till he was eye level with her and stared back, trying to convince her that he was really there.

“Talk to her,” Darcy whispered as she rubbed her back. “It doesn’t matter what you say, just remind her of your voice.”

And then Loki had an idea, but it was something he could never let be witnessed by anyone other than Darcy. So he cast a quick spell of silence and illusion over the bed and then he grabbed a blanket and draped it over his head.

Darcy picked up the cue right away. “Anna!” she gasped, tickling her baby’s back, “where’s daddy?” Loki drew the blanket down just far enough that she could see his eyes. She didn’t respond, but Dary felt her hand flex a tiny bit. “There’s daddy!” she cried, reminding Anna of their game. Anna stayed quiet, but her eyes were locked on the lump of Loki under the blanket.

They repeated this over and over until finally Loki drew the blanket down far enough that she could see his whole face and then she smiled and pointed at him. “There’s daddy!” Darcy cried. Anna giggled a bit and Loki felt something uncoil in his chest. He got off the bed and grabbed several of her favorite books from the pile he had made by the chair. He settled back on the bed and Darcy turned into him, sandwiching Anna between them. Anna kept her body glued to her mother for the first book about the ducks, but by the time Loki got to the third book about the ocean, Anna had flopped over into his arms and was clinging to his shirt. By the fifth book, she was cuddled into her father’s chest and snoring lightly, drooling just a little bit. Darcy dropped her head onto his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his waist. The blanket magically pulled up over the three of them and within minutes they were all fast asleep.

 

Saying goodbye later that evening was very difficult. Anna awoke from her nap as if nothing had ever been amiss. She crawled around Loki’s cell calling for him to follow her as she pointed out all the new things that she had never seen before, describing them in her baby babble. They played all her favorite games, Loki fed her lunch and dinner, rocked her for her afternoon nap, and Loki even conjured a basin for her bath, put her in her pajamas, and read her stories. It was only when it was time for bed that they finally had to leave. And by that time, Anna did not want to go. Darcy leaned up and gave him a quick kiss, whispering that she would see him later that night, before she set off down the hall with a wailing baby.

Loki’s anger surged uncontrollably. Suddenly all of Anna’s things in his room flew into the air and swirled together in a tornado of books, stuffed animals, and letter blocks. The tornado whirled violently in the center of his room, growing tighter and thinner until it disappeared with a sharp crack as Loki watched it, seething.

“Impressive as usual, my son,” came the voice he least wanted to hear. “You have always had a strong magical imagination.”

Odin was standing outside the wall of his cell, for once not surrounded by guards.

Loki took a deep breath and tried to relax his body. He was ready for this now; he needed no more incentive to bring this to an end than the day just spent with his daughter.

“It is good that you are here, Allfather,” he said coldly. “It is time to talk.”


	28. Chapter 28

Loki narrowed his eyes as Odin waves his hand and the invisible barrier between the two of them disappeared. The old man stepped forward and Loki tried not to let his eye twitch as he noticed the barrier did not reappear.

“And the guards?” he asked cautiously.

“Gone,” Odin said, taking a seat in one of Loki’s chairs.

“How long were you out there?” Loki replied

“Long enough.” Odin’s tone was clipped, but not angry.

“They’ve been gone for an hour.”

“I am thousands of years old Loki. I am very good at waiting.” Loki paused for dramatic effect. If Odin was so good at waiting, he could wait a little while longer. Loki turned his back and passed behind Odin in silence for a bit, wondering how and where this conversation would finally break open. Then he heard the sound of water behind him and turned to find Odin pouring ale into one of two mugs set out on the table between the two chairs.

“Are we going to work this out over a pint?” Loki asked.

“Why not?” Odin replied, taking a long drink. “Might as well have something to ease the sting that is surely to come. Your soon-to-be-wife informs me that I must confront some painful truths about you. I am merely preparing myself for the arrival for her truth.” He gave Loki a sarcastic smile that stung him in his gut.

“It would be good of you not to ridicule the woman I love,” Loki sneered. “She is very dear to me. I will make a mischief as you have never seen if anything were to happen to her.”

“More mischief than attempting to exterminate your own race?” Odin asked, glancing up at Loki over the edge of his mug. “Or murdering thousands of Midgardians in your blind, mad, vengeance?”

Loki only seethed and stared. He had answered for all of that.

“I wonder, how it is, that a woman of the character and intelligence that Miss Lewis appears to possess could see her way to accepting one such as you. I believe the Midgardians call it Stockholm syndrome.”

Loki felt the crackle of magic at his fingertips. He desired nothing more at that moment then to throw pain into Odin’s body, to make him suffer as Loki has suffered. He flexed his fingertips and his mind immediately returned to Darcy staring him down over the workbench in Jane’s laboratory. He had flexed his fingers then, glaring at the archer and the soldier as they sought to belittle and confine him. Darcy had caught his eye as he flexed his fingers and she narrowed her gaze at him. “Calm the fuck down,” she whispered urgently. “That won’t get you what you want.”

He relaxed his hands. She was right then and she would be right to say the same thing now. And what he wanted more than anything was no longer that Odin felt pain. He still wanted that, it was second on his list, but his number one desire was to be with his family. He ignored Odin’s barb and moved to the empty seat. He quietly took the empty mug and filled it with ale. Then he took a sip and stared at his father.

“Well then,” he asked finally. “How would you like to proceed?”

“You cannot rule Loki. You are not fit for it,” Odin said plainly.

“You don’t have to worry about me old man,” he replied. “I’m very content to live on Midgard with my wife and children who actually want me. At least until you are well gone and Thor is king.”

“And then you will seek to usurp the throne from your brother?” Odin asked, his tone more than accusatory.

Loki twisted his face in confusion. He had never once considered this reality. Since discovering Anna’s existence he had been wholly unconcerned with the idea of ruling anything. Instead he thought only of how to secure their future with Darcy in it. The only life he had imagined was some vague place at the court of Asgard. He had no role other than father and lover, he had no aspirations other than comfort. He realized quickly that Frigga had been right in hinting at such transformations.

“Why do you suspect that is my intention?” he asked, twisting in his seat to look at his father. Odin simply stared back, unblinking, as if the answer was self evident. “Ah,” Loki continued, “the time stone.”

“Why else would you pursue such a relic? And here I thought you had been reformed by your time on Midgard, you regretted your pursuit of the tesseract. I thought you smart enough not to desire such dark magic.”

Loki sighed and rubbed his forehead. He did not know if he would be able to make Odin see and part of him did not want to. He did not want Odin to know the most important things to him, the ways to hurt him or control him. “I have my reasons for pursuing that relic, but they are not because I endeavor for your throne. That has long past.”

“I do not believe you,” Odin scoffed.

“Then why bother to speak further?” Loki replied, his voice growing louder and angrier. “What use is there in trying to talk if you refuse to see. It isn’t that patch that makes you blind old man.”

“You expect me to take you at your word,” Odin laughed in reply. “You, the self-proclaimed god of lies?”

“Can you not believe it even a remote possibility that I would seek it for other reasons? Have you not considered my changed circumstances?” Loki asked incredulously. He simply would not look at what was in front of him.

Odin whipped his head. “You did not know about your child when you set out to find it.”

“No,” Loki said coolly, “I did not.”

“So how then would I come to that conclusion Loki?” Odin yelled in reply, finally losing his temper completely. “When in your life did you make a magnanimous decision that was for the benefit of all? When did you not scheme to make mischief and get your way? Given all that you have done, would you trust yourself with the time stone? Should I?”

“You would never trust a Jotun with the time stone. At least admit that part of this,” Loki spit in reply.

“I know that I have made many mistakes with you Loki, and you might be quick to think that the worst is my distrust of the Jotun. But that is not it. Always, you are a selfish, spoiled, arrogant child! That has nothing to do with you being Jotun. Those are not the qualities of a Jotun. Those are the qualities of someone who has been given everything and appreciated nothing!”

“What have you given me!” Loki cried.

“Your life!” Odin’s roar shook the furniture in the room. So, Loki thought to himself, taking deep breaths and trying to calm his rage, Darcy was right.

“Very well then, father,” he said as coldly as he possibly could, “I only have one more request of you.”

Odin’s one eye widened in surprise. “What is it you want then?”

Loki narrowed his gaze and calmed his voice. He went absolutely still. “Apples.”

Odin shook his head. “Absolutely not.”

“I am not asking,” Loki said quietly. “We are entitled.”

“Who? You and your lover?”

“Thor and I.”

“And what do you think you are entitled to?” Odin sneered. “What should you have your king would not give you as a gift? You are entitled to nothing!” he roared.

“To our own lives with the women we love,” Loki replied, shrugging his shoulders at the evident truth. “I have a child with her and soon there will be another and then another after that. With her I have a family. If you weren’t such a thick old tree you would realize that you have a granddaughter who is perhaps the most beautiful thing to ever grace your court.” He knew Odin had now spent time with Anna. He knew she would soon have her grandfather in her grasp.

“And why not use the stone then?” Odin replied. “You have the power to control time Loki! You seized it with no regard to your elders who cast the stone asunder. You heed no warning!”

“I will not use it,” he hissed, realizing he had to play his last card. “Not unless you force me.”

“What?” Odin visibly tried to suppress his confusion and surprise.

“It is unstable and I cannot control it,” Loki begrudgingly admitted. “I do not have the power to control time, but even if I did it is untested. We don’t know how it works. I will not use something so unproven on the woman I love. I won’t even use it on myself for the risk that it would take me away from her and my daughter. I want the apples Odin, nothing less.”

Odin stayed quiet for a time, considering this revelation. “What will you do with the stone? Hide it away until you have mastered it, until you bend time and space to your liking?”

Loki laughed. “Have you not listened to a single word you old man? Your hearing must be as crusted over as your mind.”

“What then!” Odin yelled, striking the floor with his staff. Clearly he was sick of Loki’s sarcasm.

Loki leapt to his feet, ready to rage like thunder. “As I have said a dozen times over, father, I...LOVE...DARCY. I’m not going to play with it; it is, as the Midgardians would say, a loaded weapon. It is too dangerous for magical science.” He began to pace in front of his father, spitting anger and resentment with every word. “Of course I wish that I was a masterful enough sorcerer to use it, then I wouldn’t be forced here to grovel in front of your cold heart for the life of the woman I love, the mother of my child and your grandchild! But I cannot master that relic and be sure that I will have her, so I choose her.” He stopped in front of Odin and stared him down. “I choose the life she gives me which is more of a life then I ever found here amongst your hate and your hardness. She, unlike you, can offer me more than time. She has given me everything of value I have in my life so I will not relent until you give me what I want!”

Odin stood quickly and marched across the edge of the cell. “We are done,” he called over his shoulder.

Loki, without thinking, followed after him until he stood in the middle of the empty corridor. “It is never done!” he yelled in retaliation.

“No Loki,” Odin roared, turning swiftly and giving Loki one last look. “We are done.”

Loki stood alone, confused, as he watched Odin march away. There were no sounds of guards echoing through the halls. The buzz of the barrier hissed behind him. His cage was locked again and he was on the outside.

 

Darcy clenched her eyes as the sounds of morning pulled her from her sleep. Even before Darcy opened her eyes she could sense the light pouring into the room. It would hurt to peek. She had slept hard, harder than she had slept in weeks. She stretched her arms, realizing that it was fully morning and Loki had not come to bed that night. She must have fallen asleep waiting for him.

She moved to sit up but was immediately impeded by a weight around her hips. She looked behind her, immediately confused, and there with his head mostly buried in pillows was the dark hair and pale skin of her soon-to-be-husband. Fuck, she thought to herself, Loki is going to be my husband.

Then it occurred to her that it was light out and he was still in bed. He must have come after she fell asleep and decided not to wake her. “Loki,” she hissed, throwing his arm from around her and turning around to face him, “wake up.” He only groaned and pressed his face into the pillow. “No, god damn it,” she hissed, “you have to get up. It is morning!”

“I know,” he mumbled. “The room is filled with light.”

“You have to go!” she growled.

“No I don’t,” he sighed, opening his eyes and looking up at her. Then, before she could get out another word, he wrapped his arm back around her and tugged her down until she was pressed fully against the length of him in bed. He pushed his face into her neck, planting his lips just above her collarbone. Her hands immediately went to his hair.

“You don’t?” she asked, shocked and too wary to be hopeful. “Are you free?”

“No,” he replied quietly. He opened his eyes with resignation, but then let his gaze fall to the comforting swell of Darcy’s breasts immediately below him. He moved his head down until he felt the thrum of her heart under his ear. “I may never be free from him,” he whispered.


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, home stretch. I will be wrapping this up very soon. I feel like I have a deadline...

Loki smiled as Anna took pieces of fruit from his palm and smashed them into her mouth. “Slowly daring,” he cooed, grabbing her little fist with his other hand as she moved to inhale yet another piece of the fruit he had cut up for her. She looked at him with perplexed eyes. “Chew your food princess,” he said softly. Her bottom lip dropped and a bit of masticated fruit dropped out as she struggled to chew what she had already shoved in there. Loki could only laugh at her and himself. Never in his thousand years at he thought slowly feeding a baby would make him this happy.

“Is that the poop fruit?” Darcy called as she emerged from the bathing chamber, immediately alarmed to see Loki and Anna sitting at the table with fruit smeared down the front of her pajamas.

“No,” Loki grinned, still wishing he’d seen that particular event, “this is my favorite and it does not have that particular effect. Now that I am back she does not need to rely on the culinary advice of her uncle.”

Darcy smiled as she sat at the table with them. Loki looked more relaxed than she’d seen him since they arrived. He was sitting, shirtless, with Anna in his lap as he fed her breakfast. It was a good thing he was shirtless. Darcy could see a sticky handprint or two across his chest. And she didn’t mind getting to ogle her shirtless fiance. She’s missed his shirtlessness.

“Give her some yogurt or cheese,” Darcy sighed, tying up her hair behind her, “she needs some calcium, not just sugar, since she didn’t want to nurse this morning.” She tried not to let her disappointment show, even though she knew that it was only natural for Anna to show an increasing interest in actual food and not just breast milk.

Loki pushed the plate of fruit away and drew forward a cup of yogurt. He lifted the spoon in the air and Anna’s eyebrows lifted as she saw the next yummy thing coming towards her. She slumped back in her arms and opened her mouth, waiting for the spoon. Loki eyed Darcy as he fed his daughter; she looked distracted and like she didn’t want to watch Anna eat.

“Are you sad that she refused to nurse?” Loki asked tentatively.

“A bit,” Darcy replied, wiping away a tear. It felt more real having someone else notice.

“Darling, you know…”

“I know, but it’s been our thing for...almost a year.” She turned towards Anna and grabbed her foot. “You are almost a year old baby girl!” She smiled back as Anna smiled as her, a bit of yogurt oozing out of her pudgy cheeks.

Loki wiped her bottom lip with his finger and deposited it on a napkin without two thoughts. He felt at ease at how quickly he had adjusted to parenting in the first place and now settled back into the routines after being kept from them for so long. “Do you think it is her age?” he asked, quickly scanning his memory for what the baby books said about weaning.

“Probably,” Darcy sighed, picking up a piece of cheese and popping it in her mouth. “She should be exploring other foods and wanting other foods. And we will need to…”

Loki watched her face change as she bit her lip. “What?” he asked. “We will need to what?”

“If we have another baby. She needs to be fully weaned before another baby comes,” Darcy said quietly, trying not to hope quite yet. She didn’t dare catch Loki’s eye. She could practically hear him smiling. “She needs to not even remember the boob or it’ll make her jealous when the new baby gets to nurse.”

Loki smiled. “I do not think,” he said, recalling his own childhood, “that there is too much we can do to mediate sibling jealousy. We might be overwhelmed if we try.”

“Oh really!” Darcy replied, feigning surprise. “Does that mean you think it is ok for parents not to be perfect?”

“Of course,” Loki said, rolling his eyes. He caught himself mid-roll; it was a vulgar Midgardian trait.

“Are you going to extend the same generosity to your parents?” Darcy asked, her voice taking on an innocent tone.

Loki scowled. “So much for my lovely welcome home breakfast,” he muttered. Darcy only laughed and rose to her feet. She leaned forward and nuzzled him gently before placing the softest, sweetest kiss she could on his waiting lips.

“I love you,” she whispered, cringing as she heard a loud, rhythmic knock on the door. Loki rolled his eyes; he had known that knock his entire life.

“I love you too,” he murmured in reply, reaching forward to steel one more kiss as he heard his brother shouting from the other side of the door.

 

Thor gazed around the party assembled in the garden. They had spent the morning as a family, minus Odin, and now everyone was relaxing after several hours of games and play. Jane and Frigga were sitting at a table in the sun, laughing and telling stories of Thor’s infancy. Loki was relaxing in the shade on a large pile of pillows. Darcy was snuggled into his side and Loki had his face buried in her hair. Anna was resting against his chest, her eyes growing heavier with each soothing stroke of Loki’s hand down her back. He could see from afar that Darcy was softly singing to her and he couldn’t help but smile at the beautiful, familial scene. He would have that soon enough.

Ever since he had fetched them that morning to come to the garden at Frigga’s request, the three of them were joined at the hip. Anna only wanted to play with her father and she would only venture a few feet from him towards another before hurrying back. It was as if she was afraid he might disappear again. Loki was equally attentive to her. Thor smiled as he thought of Jane’s gossip about Loki from Darcy. “She said he can be clingy and needs lots of affection,” Jane had mentioned one evening as they endlessly discussed the problem of righting Loki’s impulses. Thor wondered now if all he really needed was a place where he felt loved and wanted. It made him horribly sad to know that their family had never been that place for him.

Thor took a heavy seat at the table and a large swig of ale from a mug. Frigga was telling Jane about the time that Thor tried to teach Loki how to climb the stairs. Thor smiled, remembering how funny it was watching Loki as a toddler climbing stair after stair and then sitting on his butt and scooting back down them. Then he remembered that when Loki had tried to stand and walk up the stairs, he lost his balance and fell backwards, hitting his head as he landed at the bottom. He had wailed terribly and Thor didn’t understand what was wrong. Frigga came rushing from out of nowhere, scooping Loki up in her arms and comforting him. He asked his mother why his baby brother was crying and Frigga explained that it was because he was hurt. Thor didn’t understand the concept of ‘hurt.’ Thor didn’t get ‘hurt.’ He climbed half a dozen stairs and threw himself down and felt no pain. He tried to reason with Loki through his tears that it didn’t really hurt to fall down the stairs. But Frigga had only smiled and reminded Thor that Loki was different from him and sometimes things hurt him that didn’t hurt Thor.

These were the building blocks, Thor thought to himself, as he watched his mother and fiance laugh. He had been raised with the notion that Loki was not the same as him, even if was at first benign. Loki was not as strong as him or as powerful. He could not fight like him or fly or run like him. Loki was strong with his magic and for that he had to stay in Frigga’s library and study. He didn’t spar and game with the other boys; he would not have been able to beat them anyway and they ridiculed him endlessly when he tried. Instead he learned his magic and played little pranks, embarrassing them the only way he could fight back.

Thor scanned the garden again, this time catching Odin’s shadowed figure on the balcony. Thor’s gaze immediately flew to Loki, not anxious for the arguing to begin, but he found the little family of three asleep in the shade. Loki’s head at lolled to the side, his cheek pressed against Darcy’s head, and Darcy’s face was planted against his shoulder. Thor supposed the three of them were not sleeping well these days and could use the rest.

He stood silently and moved to join his father. Out of nowhere, two guards appeared with plush chairs and Thor and Odin sat together on the edge of the party.

“Father,” Thor said stiffly, shifting in his seat. Things had not been easy between them either. Odin did not want to see Thor much either and only allowed him into his presence with Frigga there as well. Usually they went to plead Loki’s case. Thor and Odin still had not discussed what Thor knew brought them to Asgard in the first place.

“Loki seems quite content in his new life,” Odin said suddenly, catching Thor off guard. Thor watched his father gaze out at his brother’s family. Falling asleep in the garden in the arms of a woman while clutching his baby was not something Thor had ever imagined that he would see from his brother, but after the nine months they had spent on Midgard together, he was not surprised by this seen.

“Loki is a very good father,” Thor said firmly, “and most of the time he is a very good husband. He will be a very good husband.”

“Yes,” Odin sighed. “He will marry that woman. That is clear.”

“Her name is Darcy,” Thor replied, trying to reiterate to Odin that Darcy was a real person, not just Loki’s lover but also his true friend. She was very important to the princes of Asgard.

“I actually like her,” Odin said suddenly, turning towards Thor will a faint smile. “She reminds me of you mother. She is very quick, for a human. She watches more than she speaks. And she is very honest.”

“Ah,” Thor smiled, nodding, “I heard that the two of you had quite the conversation. Mother said that Darcy was charming.”

“She was not charming," Odin corrected, leaning forward on his knee. “But she was observant about a good many things. She knows Loki very well. She has accepted him as he is.”

“She loves him,” Thor agreed. “Very much.”

“And your brother loves her.”

“He does.”

Odin sighed and sat back and was silent. Thor took a deep breath and decided to jump in. Everyone else was having good luck being honest.

“And I love Jane,” he said quietly, “very much.”

“Thor, this is not fitting for you. She is a mortal, she is frail, she has no magic. She cannot help you rule.”

“She is pregnant, father. It is done.” Thor shifted his gaze back to Jane, still smiling in the sun with his mother. “You know it is done.” He would give up the throne for her if he had too and Odin would not be able to stop him. Odin knew this too.

“And what will you do if I cannot give you what my sons so desire?”

“Then either you will have to lock us up or we will return to Midgard to live out the lives of the women we love. And when they are dead, we will return to Asgard and haunt your halls. Although Loki may burn them down.”

“You should know things about your brother,” Odin said coldly, turning his gaze back towards Loki. He looked so innocent in his sleep. “He cannot keep the time stone.”

Thor shrugged. “He does not really want it. He wants Darcy.”

“You know your brother is not of our race. He is Jotun and they are…”

“I know father,” Thor sighed, throwing his head back. “I am sick of hearing your old hate against the Jotun. They are not evil, they are enemies. There is a difference.”

Odin stayed silent. He and Frigga has fought over this many times in the last thousand years. He knew that his thinking about the Jotun had been twisted when his sons were very young. It was the effect of the war. So many battles and lives lost because of one ambitious zealot of a king. He had softened his perspective, but had never been brave enough to admit he was wrong to his sons.

“Thor, they have magic that I do not have. It is very difficult to fight. We fought and we won, but many lives were lost. Loki is an extremely powerful sorcerer, more so than you understand. More so than he understands. If he was to exert his full power, both as a Jotun and what he has learned from your mother, he would a dangerous force. If he were to acquire the time stone, he could destroy everything.”

Thor considered this. He doubted that Loki understood his own power. Even Darcy admitted that Loki hated himself; she said he had ‘internalized his oppression.” Thor smirked, thinking of Darcy’s analysis of the situation. In her mind Odin was racist, much like Midgardians who judged others on the color of their skin. She told him that racists only have two options; grow a heart or die out.

“I trust him,” Thor said simply. What more was there to say.

“You should not,” Odin replied, shaking his head. “What has he done to earn your trust?”

“He has not left Darcy’s side since the he learned of Anna’s arrival. He has changed his entire life for her. He has shown me what it is he truly wants, finally, and it is not the power that he has so callously chased for so many years.” Thor smiled and gestured out at the couple. Loki and Darcy had awaken and were trading small kisses and smiles, as if they were in their own bubble.

“Thor,” Frigga called from behind him. “Your brother is doing a much better job of showering affection on the mother of his child. You go and do the same.” She gave him a smile and gestured towards Jane, who was sitting alone in the garden and scanning the grounds for him

Thor smiled and leapt up, clapping his father on the shoulder as he left. He would leave him to Frigga and her open heart.

Frigga was silent until she saw Thor appear in the garden and lift Jane from her seat, encouraging her to stroll the garden with him. “Odin,” she warned quietly. “Enough of this.”

“What has been built may crumble…”

“It will not,” Frigga replied. “They will be stronger because of these women and most importantly, they will fight together. What they have done and what they have endured to find love has brought your sons closer together than they have ever been. They have begun to repair the fractures we set into their lives, into their bones. They are beginning to trust each other."

Odin moved uncomfortably in his seat.

“You know this, my love,” she said, placing a hand on his arm. “Loki will not take from Thor any longer. He will help him. Darcy will help him to choose well. But she must be present for this to happen. If he loses her, then all is lost for everyone. He will never forgive us.”

“He is still dangerous.”

“Love is always dangerous. You know that,” Frigga dropped her gaze out at her growing family. Two sons, two daughters. Soon to be two grandchildren. If Loki had anything to say about she would soon have a third. “He is more dangerous now than he was before. All love is dangerous, including the love a mother has for her children.”

“What are you saying Frigga? Be plain with your visions.” Odin was tense and impatient.

“I did not protect Loki from you when I should have,” she said. “You have hardened him, whether you are willing to admit it or not. I will not let you harden him further by taking away his only comfort.”

“And how will you do this?”

“You are not the only one who can grant apples Odin.”

Odin shot his gaze towards his wife, staring out at their family in the yard. In thousands of years, she had not claimed this power over him. Frigga was a powerful goddess, but when she claimed her full power, when she united others like her, she could weave many things Odin did not dare resist.

“Freya and Idunn will not allow…”

“They have many times,” Frigga smiled. “We are one, Odin, you know this. You cannot break this bond. Maybe if there was no Darcy and there was no Jane and there were no babies, but you know you cannot interrupt our power over women, especially women who bring forth new life. They are ours to watch over and to do with as we see fit.”

Frigga rose silently from her chair. She turned and leaned down, cupping her husband’s face in her hands. “Now is your time to change the course of history Odin. Make good choices, husband, and undo very old wrongs in your royal house. Do not leave your wife with no choice but to fix it for you. Do not send your family off to fend for themselves. Open your arms, open your eyes. Look at that beautiful baby. Open your heart.”


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And...scene. That's a wrap, I made my deadline. I'm glad so many of you have enjoyed this; I had fun writing it. Maybe I'll write another :).

Darcy sighed and stretched lazily on the chaise lounge on the balcony. Ever since Loki had been released a week ago, life on Asgard had improved immeasurably. She was ready to admit that it was actually pretty awesome. They had moved out of Frigga’s suites and into Loki’s chambers which were much more spacious that Frigga’s guest accommodations. Anna had her own room just off the sitting room of his suite and just to make Darcy feel better he added a door between her room and theirs. Darcy was flabbergasted that Asgard didn’t have the technology for a baby monitor. He had a gorgeous balcony looking out over the sea and he had done a lot of work to change his space from ‘broody dark prince,’ as Darcy called it, to ‘happy family space.’

‘Happy family space’ meant lots of toys and books and cuddles for Anna. Lots of time spent working on her walking (she was almost there) and lots of time eating. She was growing very fast now, eating four or five little meals a day, and she only wanted to nurse at naptime and bedtime. Darcy was getting used to it, even if it broke her heart a little bit. She got a bit emotional after Anna went down for the night, realizing that time was moving forward rapidly and soon enough Anna wouldn’t be a baby anymore. But if she was teary then she went to bed in Loki’s arms and he held her and made love to her and she generally drowned in the softness of his giant bed and their big, soft, squishy perfect family.

Everything would be the absolute best if it wasn’t for Odin. As far as Darcy was concerned, he was the absolute worst.

“What are you thinking of my love?” Loki called from the floor of the balcony. He and Anna were occupied with some puzzles and she was very quickly mastering every new complication that Loki threw her way.

“I was wondering how long your old man can think about this. Your mom said she spoke with him again last week after the garden party. It is time to shit or get off the pot.”

Loki smiled at her crude Midgardian metaphors. Three years ago he would have found it evidence of the stupidity of humans. Now he realized the importance of the informality, the comfort it brought to others. It...humanized them. He realized now that to ‘humanize’ meant to equalize, and that was all he had ever wanted in Asgard.

“He can spend a great deal of time on his decisions. Odin has all the time he needs.”

“Well, some of us don’t,” Darcy sneered. “Every day that passes I’m rocketing towards 25 years old. He needs to get with the program before I get any wrinkles.” She heard Loki snicker behind her and she shot him an irritated glare. “I’m not kidding,” she insisted. “If we’re gonna do this, I would rather do it before gravity acts anymore on these lovely breasts you enjoy so much.”

“They are beautiful,” Loki said wistfully. “I would wish them to stay as they are for ever.”

“Yeah, well ever day forward is a tiny bit closer to them reaching my belly button. It is only a matter of time. I’m ready to get this done.” Darcy groaned and dragged herself up from her chair. She felt a little cold and there was a breeze coming in off the ocean. She marched into the room and came back with a wrap around her shoulders and a small sweater for Anna. She handed it to Loki and he gave her a confused look.

“Darling, it is not cold outside.”

“Really,” Darcy said, taking her seat again, “I’m cold. But I guess you two Jotun’s are fine. She’s not chilled?”

“No,” Loki said, touching Anna’s arm gently. Her temperature seemed fine and she continued to babble to herself and play with her puzzles. “Are you well?”

“Yeah,” she sighed, “I’m fine. Just a little cold. It’s the sea air.”

Loki smiled and returned to Anna’s games. Darcy watched them happily until her eyes started to feel heavy. She closed them just for a moment and the next thing she heard was the sound of heavy footsteps in the rooms behind her and Thor’s booming voice.

“Darcy,” she heard Jane whisper. A hand reached out and shook her awake. “Darcy, get up. Odin has summoned them.”

“What?” she asked groggily, rising from her half-reclined position. She had a blanket over her now and Loki and Anna were no longer on the balcony.

“You’ve been asleep my love,” Loki called from behind her. He bent down and left a quick kiss on her lips. “Thor and I must go, Anna is down for her nap. Jane will stay here with you both.”

“What? I’m confused,” Darcy yawned. “How long have I been asleep.”

“About 90 minutes. Darling we will be back before the evening meal, I am sure.”

Darcy could only turn and watch them go, the brothers walking in tandem with their heads bent low. She let out a slow sigh of relief. At least they were a team.

 

Odin stared out from his throne across the hall. His wife and two sons stood before him like supplicants. It was not something he was entirely used to. Loki’s overly calm, nearly blank expression also unnerved him. He was used to barely concealed rage or bemused arrogance. It couldn’t be possible that Loki had come ready to relent.

“Clear the hall,” he said, his voice barely loud enough to reach the room. Guards scattered except for the two who stood directly behind him. Frigga shifted her weight and gave him an irritated expression. There was no reason to do this here except to remind Thor and Loki who was still king.

“Father,” Thor began, “why have you called us? What are you willing to discuss?”

Odin narrowed his eye at his son. For the first time since before he cast Thor out of Asgard, he could sense his impatience. The young god was ready for whatever Odin might put forward. “I am willing to discuss a trade,” he announced, not looking any of his family directly in the eye.

“What sort of trade?” Loki asked, again his voice overly calm. He was working to control himself; it was clear to everyone in the room.

“Time for time.”

Loki shifted uncomfortably. He did not trust Odin, he could not have resolved this conflict so easily. “You are offering apples then?”

“Yes, apples for the lives of the two Midgardians and any offspring from your unions that may need them.” Thor’s smile was immediate. He turned to Loki, feeling as though they had won, but Loki was not rejoicing yet.

“And you want the time stone in exchange.”

“Yes,” Odin said firmly. “The stone then the apples.”

“No,” Loki replied.

“Loki!” Thor cried, surprised at his brother’s response. For a moment he felt crushed that Loki would return to his selfish ways. He honestly believed his brother ready to give up his pursuit of power in exchange for a life full of love.

“The apples first,” Loki said coldly. “I would not trust you as far as Thor could throw you,” he sneered. “Because of course, we all know, Thor could throw you farther than I. Apples and then the stone.” Thor relaxed. Loki had a point and Thor had to learn not to doubt him so much. There was still so much distance to travel.

“Loki,” Odin said tiredly, “this will not due.”

“I do not trust you Allfather.”

The silence in the room, despite the few inhabitants, was deafening. Never had such a phrase been uttered. It was the ultimate sign of disrespect.

Frigga subtly turned her head, waiting to see Odin’s response. She was at her end with this; she would step in if she had too. Neither of her sons knew the extent of her power, she had hid it in order to support Odin’s reign, as all Queens of Asgard did before her. But enough was enough.

Odin open and closed his fist several times, seemingly chewing the inside of his lip. “I believe I have earned your distrust my son, just as you have earned mine. We will have to choose to put it aside and to move forward.” He fell into silence for a few moments before seizing Loki’s gaze. Suddenly, the doors to the hall re-opened and three guards came through, escorting Darcy, Jane, and Anna to the edge of the throne room. “I do not wish for things to be as they have been.”

“Loki,” Frigga said gently, placing her hand on his arm, “do you trust me?”

“Yes,” he said, without even a second thought.

“Then I assure you the apples will find their way to the women you all love. I will see it happen as soon as possible. But I think we must offer the stone as well.” She leaned over and lowered his voice. “Look what he has done for you,” she whispered. “He has said he was wrong. Now is the beginning.”

Darcy and Jane stood dumbfounded and silent. What had they walked into? Jane gripped Darcy’s free hand tightly and leaned slightly into her side. “Apples,” she whispered.

“I think so,” Darcy said, her voice full of awe that something was finally happening.

Loki seemed to be considering his mother’s request. He would have to trust twice. First that she was right in the moment and second that she could precur the apples. “Fine,” he said.

Suddenly the two brothers stepped away from their parents. Thor’s arm shot out and Mjolnir flew to him with a sharp crack. Loki flicked his wrist and drew forth the stone from beneath his garb. Before Odin or Frigga could stop their children, Loki placed the stone on the ground and Thor raised Mjolnir high above his head only to bring it crashing down on the stone, shattering it into tiny shards. Loki’s fingers crackled with magic and the shards rose in the air, hovering between the shocked faces of Frigga and Odin. Slowly, the shards reorganized themselves into nine piles and then, one by one, each pile disappeared.

“It has gone,” Loki said, “scattered back across the nine realms in much smaller pieces than I found it. It will not be located again or at least, not very easily.”

“Why have you sent it forth?” Odin said, astonished by Loki’s act. He did not realize his son had mastered pushing his magic through the barriers between realms. Loki’s full powers were not far away. And while he felt confident that Loki would relinquish the stone, he did not think he would destroy it. He had, again, underestimated his son.

“I told you what I want. It is not the stone. I told you the stone is dangerous. You chose not to believe me. I can do nothing further.” Loki was willing to try, but it was hard. It was very very hard.

Thor looked around at all the silent, shocked faces. Apparently, those who thought they knew each other so well could still surprise. It can’t possibly be this easy, he thought to himself, not after all of this.

 

“I have something for you,” Loki smiled, advancing on Darcy and wrapping his arms around her waist.

Darcy sighed contentedly and opened her arms. It had been a week since Odin declared that Darcy and Jane could have the apples. Jane would have to wait until she gave birth, but Darcy was set to have some kind of official ceremony that afternoon. It had been a blissful, if awkward week. There was more family together time than Darcy could take. Lots of tense meals and short conversations and lots of time with Odin. Frigga was happier than Darcy had ever seen her.

She shifted her hips slightly as Loki leaned into her, searching for that familiar hardness at the top of her thigh. “You have something for me? Nope, not that,” she smiled. “So a present then!”

Loki chucked lightly, slipping his hand into her hair as the other cradled at her back. “Are you saying my unending desire for you is not a gift?”

“Oh, it is,” Darcy teased, “but you don’t wrap it up for me. A little effort wouldn’t hurt. Maybe tie a bow on it.” She giggled at Loki’s indignant expression.

“You wish me to tie a bow on my manhood!” He still wasn’t good at being teased.

“Hmmm…”Darcy hummed, leaning forward to kiss the corner of his mouth, “yes please. A green one.”

Loki humphed a bit. “Well, yes,” he relented. “A green one might be interesting. Will you unwrap it?”

“Yes,” Darcy nodded, kissing him again, “with my mouth.”

“Oh!” Loki gasped, suddenly realizing the goldmine this whole game could potentially unearth. “We’ll try that later, love, I do actually have a gift for you.”

“What is it?” Darcy smiled, gripping his tunic in her fists and pulling him close. She watched as he raised his fist above them and then a shake of his wrist and a silver chain fell out. Darcy’s eyes lit up. Loki had never given her jewelry. He just didn’t do regular Earth romance stuff like that.

“What is it?” she gasped. He turned his hand and opened his fist. Laying in his palm was the most beautiful clouded pink stone, chiseled in a teardrop, and hanging from a simple perfect silver chain. “It’s beautiful Loki,” she smiled, tracing the stone with her finger. He connected the chain around the back of her neck as she held up her hair.

“It is made more beautiful when you wear it,” he whispered, leaning forward with a kiss.

“Where did you get it? Is it Asgardian?” she asked, peering down to examine the stone. It was long enough that it just grazed the tops of her breasts. It felt so intimate, like Loki had put it there on purpose.

“No, it is much older. I searched nine realms for it. It took me away from you. It is only right that you should keep part of it to remind me what I could lose. It is only right that I see you wear it to remind me to never risk losing you again.”

“What?” she gasped, turning to a mirror to examine it more closely. “Loki,” she admonished, “you didn’t!”

“I took a shard, yes, and made this for you.”

“Baby,” she said, catching his eye in the mirror, “it’s not that I don’t love it...but should not you have done that. Your dad is going to be pissed.”

Loki waved his hand. “Odin need not know. Thor split it into a million pieces. It will never be reassembled again. And this piece is a fragment.”

“So it can’t hurt me?” Darcy asked, looking at it closely again. She really didn’t want to give it up. It was incredibly beautiful and Loki had made it for her.

“No,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. She turned around in his arms to kiss him, but he ducked his head and trailed his lips over the tops of her breasts. He licked his way down to the valley between them as Darcy sighed happily. “It will stay right here for only you and I to know about. Right next to your heart.”

“That’s not where my heart is,” Darcy giggled.

“Fine,” Lokis sighed, both of his hands sneaking up from below to cup her breast and lift them to his desperate mouth. “My second favorite part of you, after your heart.” Darcy giggled and then Loki raised his head and smirked. “Well maybe my third favorite part.”

“Hey!” Darcy giggled, pulling his sneaky hand out from between her legs, “you’re gonna make us late for my party!” Loki groaned and leaned in for a kiss. “You have the rest of our lives for that,” she whispered.

 

The ceremony had much more pomp than either Darcy or Loki had patience for. They had left Anna with Jane in her room, the two of them taking their naps together. Jane wanted to come, but Frigga insisted it wouldn’t be a big deal and someone needed to stay with Anna. Darcy had not relaxed her rules on suitable babysitters. But Frigga was wrong, apparently it was a big deal. So much so that already the court of Asgard had spent an hour and half of conferring unto Darcy the responsibilities and pleasures of long life.

“Why is this such a hassle,” she hissed at Loki, who stood by her side through the entire thing. “My feet hurt. And I’m cold.”

“It is only a little longer darling,” he grinned, trying to be perceived as a kind and benevolent prince. He still had to fix his standing in the court, but now he felt prepared to take on such a challenge.

“Ok…” Darcy groaned under her breath. Another hour later, Darcy and Loki had been endlessly gracious to a long line of well wishers.

“Just think,” Loki muttered, “when we get married we can do this again. For three times as many people.”

“Fuck me,” Darcy sighed.

“Later,” Loki agreed, bowing slightly in front of some guy in a crazy outfit.

Finally, the long awaited moment arrived. Frigga came from the wings with a beautiful basket of apples. Loki stepped forward and plucked one from the top and came back to Darcy.

“Darcy Lewis of Midgard,” he said happily, “I, Loki, Prince of Asgard, bestow upon you the gift of a long life. I welcome you to our halls as equal and beloved.” Darcy smiled up at him before suddenly feeling a bit teary. This was sort of like their wedding rehearsal she thought to herself. Except I’m totally gonna make him cry then. Loki placed the apple just before her lips. “Take a bite darling,” he whispered.

“Wait!” a voice called, stepping out of the crowd. “Darcy, stop!”

“What now!” cried Loki, his patience and resolve finally cracking. “Just let us have our little snack and be on with it!” His eyes flashed angry at the crowd until he saw that it was Eir who had stepped forward. He shut his mouth remorsefully and bowed his head slightly out of respect.

“No, she cannot partake,” Eir said, clearing the distance between the crowd and Darcy in the blink of an eye. She held her hand out towards her and her fingers flexed almost imperceptibly. Darcy watched Eir concentrate on her and she couldn’t possibly fathom what she was doing. It was like she was reading her aura or something except she could almost feel the energy from her fingers scanning her body.

“No,” she continued, dropping her hand and turning back to Odin. “She cannot have the apple.”

Odin and Frigga exchanged a quick look and a knowing smile. They rose and came to stand in front of Darcy. Frigga took Darcy’s hands in hers and gave her the warmest smile Darcy had ever seen. “No,” Frigga said, “she cannot.”

“You must give birth first,” Odin said clearly. He straightened his back and turned on his heel. He hadn’t noticed, and neither had Frigga, because of all the other emotional things going on. Another baby, he thought to himself. He ducked his head before sitting back down and let just the tiniest smile trace his lips.

Loki took a step back and flung his gaze to Darcy. Her eyes were wide and surprised. She didn’t know. She couldn’t know. It had only been a few weeks. True, they had made love over and over, he had fulfilled every lusty dream scenario he had of impregnating her, but the child would only be a small spot of cells.

“You can’t possibly…” she whispered, her voice hushed and low. Frigga squeezed her hands again with a wide smile. She wrapped one arm around Darcy, the other hand drifting to her lower abdomen.

“She is right,” she smiled at Loki, who looked like he was suppressing the urge to dance a jig. “I see it now. I have been so distracted by our trials, I did not pay close enough attention. Nine months and you can have the apple dear,” she grinned. “They are better in the spring anyway.” She gave Darcy a kiss on the cheek and stepped away, steering the shocked young woman into her fiance arms.

“Off you go,” Odin declared, waving them out of the hall. “Thor,” he called “we will have a feast tonight to celebrate the new child.”

“No,” Frigga cut in, “to celebrate all three of our grandchildren.”

Thor simply nodded and beamed from the side of the hall. It occurred to Darcy briefly that Thor’s third job after fighting bad guys and making thunder was royal Asgardian party planner.

“Loki,” Odin continued, “take your woman to your chambers. Let her rest. And when you return, bring my granddaughter with you.”

Loki swiftly bowed and took Darcy by the arm, leading her out of the hall. He smiled slightly to himself, realizing that the old man’s heart was finally warming to the idea of his new family.

“I just...I mean I wanted but...so soon...I sort of hoped but I didn’t want to hope too much...I mean I figured that my lady times would be all messed up by the travel...I just…and we’d be disappointed...I didn’t think the first month we tried it would...although they say it is easier with the second...” Darcy was babbling as Loki dragged her down the hallway. As they turned the corner, Loki let out a growl of frustration and pulled her against his chest. The next second they were standing next to his, now their, bed and Loki was lifting her by the waist to deposit her on the mattress.

“Shut up,” he mumbled, leaning in for a kiss. “Yes you are pregnant my beautiful Darcy and I could not possibly love you more.” He left kisses all over her cheeks and forehead, his lips returning to hers in quick succession, before moving down her neck. “Baby” he said to himself over and over as Darcy slid her hands into his hair, the realization finally sinking in, and he ran his hands over her middle. Another baby. Another icy pregnancy. But as she felt Loki’s hand move up the outside of her thigh as he worked his way under her dress, she realized that while it would be an icy, frost giant baby and all, it would not be so scary this time. How could she be scared when he was always right next to her, practically always inside her.

He pulled away suddenly. “Can we stay here until the child arrives? I think my mother would greatly appreciate it since she missed the last and I want no distractions, no SHIELD, or other nonsense. Only us, Anna, and our new baby.”

“I…”

“And I can care for you here, better than Banner. Eir will know how to ease the pain and I will wait on you hand and foot. I will even lobby Odin to give up his throne so that you may rest in the hall.”

“That’s not necessary,” Darcy smiled, leaning up for a kiss. “If I get tired, you’ll hold me.”

“I will,” he swore, his voice far more serious than she expected.

“And when it hurts, you will make it go away.”

“I will,” he repeated.

“And when I am scared, you will comfort me and if I get nervous you will make me confident and if I ever need…”

“Anything,” he gushed, kissing her softly. “If you ever need anything I will move nine realms to make it so.”

“I was going to say,” she smiled slyly, “that if I ever need you to fuck me you will drop everything and do it.”

He barked out a laugh. “Don’t I do that now,” he teased, his eyes dancing a bit as he thrust his center against her hip.

“More or less, but Loki I’m not kidding. When I was pregnant with Anna I got so freaking horny. It will make our sex marathons look like sprints. I’m talking all night and on a strict regiment during the day. It’s like an itch that you just can’t scratch…”

“Perhaps a Midgardian couldn’t scratch it,” he mused, pushing her legs apart and setting himself over her, “or one of those pathetic substitutes you women have.”

“True,” Darcy laughed, “you are more than any rubber phallus could ever be. And I never let any Midgardian try to scratch it. You know that. Once you go frost giant...”

“Good,” he grinned, dropping his mouth to the tops of her breasts, “I am very good at scratching itches by the way.” He rocked his half hard cock against her core and Darcy stifled a moan.

“Fine,” she gasped, as he hand creeped up to massage her breast, “have it your way.”

“What was that?” he murmured, licking a wet trail up to her ear. “Have you my way? My pleasure.”

  
THE END


End file.
